Between The Raindrops
by BleedingHeartsoftheWorldUnite
Summary: The father was suspicious that betrayal wasn't far away; the daughter was convinced that the sentiment could never be requited; the friend feared that Judas would live again in an actual kiss. None of them knew it, but at that moment the three of them had been locked in a trinity of treason, all dreading the inevitable moment that human frailty and weakness would triumph over all.
1. Gehenna

The sun fell in heavy patches through the pearly swirls decorating the mid-afternoon sky, tempering the vivid blue with breathy summer breezes that ruffled the freshly mown grass. A folding card table had been set out in the shade of the handsome two-story house, pristine white lawn chairs gleaming as the last of the water from the washing dried in the fresh air. Some fifteen feet from the table - laden with homemade lemonade and a selection of sandwiches - two girls were hard at work planting a row of begonias lining the walkway to the side door. The girls, aged nine and ten respectively, both had darker shades of hair and a strong resemblance to the couple entertaining their guests at the table; the two guests were actively chatting and recounting their recent activities to the couple, who were also busy trying to supervise their children. On the opposite side of the spacious backyard, a girl with black hair appearing to be in her mid-to-late teens was lost in the engine of a beat up old jeep. Easily the oldest one there, the girls' father kept shooting glances over his friends' shoulder as he watched the young mechanic work.

Despite the earthy smell of ongoing yard work and metallic banging and clanks of repair, the house was already on its way to looking like something out of a cherished memory in a storybook; the active ecosystem of the nearby river sent many a glittering dragonfly and feathered friend in the vicinity. One such insect had flown by the head of a feminine figure fanning herself off with her hand as her companion took over the narrative; grazing a pale green wing by her drink, the dragonfly earned a half-startled involuntary twitch of the hand. It had been three years already, but the sight of four-winged anything still triggered the nightmarish memories of 1998...

Voice carried on the wind as a wrench fell off the edge of the hood and onto her foot, an irate voice broke through the fuzzy haze of time, making everyone stop what they were doing to glance around at the scene of the accident. Swearing like the offspring of a sailor and a trucker all whilst looking rather comical, the girl with sable hair hopped in place, holding her foot in her gloved hands. Jumping to their feet, both parents acted - concerned for what they might overhear, the mother ushered her younger girls inside to look for medical supplies if needed, and the father was at his daughter's side for support and anything else she might need. Both the woman that had been lost in her memories and the guy seated facing away from the vehicle knew that the teen would survive, but at the same time they too were worried about the girl.

Three years ago they had all gone through their fair share of unspeakable horrors, and it would be lying to say that any one of them was the same person they used to be. Claire Redfield, the woman in pink that had been fanning herself, had not only outlived the decimation of an entire metropolis but had also endured capture and an extended stay in the Antarctic, all without sufficient provisions; having experienced both in a span of only three months, as well as the loss of a dear friend, she was still trying to come to terms with her ordeal. Chris Redfield, Claire's older brother and the lean silhouette in a simple dark t-shirt, had saved his sister from the snowy expedition (where she had ironically been imprisoned trying to find him), but six months before that he had stumbled across a corporate conspiracy that involved the creation of horrible monsters. Barry Burton, the man of the house, had been one of Chris' surviving partners during that fateful mission that had triggered so many horrendous atrocities; for the sake of his wife and two daughters, the bearded officer had been forced into turning traitor, but thankfully his friends had figured out the truth and had forgiven him: too bad he still couldn't forgive himself for betraying them to this day. Barry's wife Kathy, as well as girls Moira and Polly, had been taken hostage; Kathy would still jump at even the smallest of sounds, and the girls continued to have nightmares, although thankfully they were lessening in number with time.

Not the only survivor of the same cleansing, the ponytailed redhead had known two children to survive the catastrophic events of Raccoon City, both of whom had became orphaned; the younger of the two she had saved herself, so she knew first-hand everything the child would have to work through, but this girl's story was known to few others, so Claire could only hazard a guess as to what she had to overcome. Sherry Birkin had been relentlessly sought as a breeding tool by the mutated remnants of her own father, and Robin had come from a larger home, so now she wouldn't only have to adjust to a completely new environment that included new siblings, but she had to learn to call others family. It wasn't for anyone to say which fate was worse, but at least Robin got a chance at happiness, while Sherry had been put in a situation that basically made her the equivalent of a government lab rat.

Speaking of rats, at the same moment that the girls had been ushered inside the house, a particularly fat and unpleasant gray rodent scurried across the freshly waxed wooden portion of the floor. Any other time it might have gone unnoticed by the busy housewife, but because her ears were now strained for the slightest disturbance, she had heard it squeaking as it darted across the room to hide in the scuffed-up baseboards. The outside of the house was a big enough project to take up most of the summer, so it had been agreed upon by the family that a thorough job would be done on the inside during the fall; knowing that school would hamper their efforts, Barry and Kathy didn't expect to finish the job until sometime late into the winter, if not early next year. All the same, they should have been keeping the house clean enough so things like this didn't happen, waterfront property or no.

Alerted by the scream of mother and child, Claire went off to answer the second distress call, leaving Chris alone at the table; feeling awkward and slightly idiotic to be sitting by himself when everyone else was otherwise occupied, he checked the open back door, catching a sliver of hallway occupied by bustling bodies, a coat rack, and a small end table with a simple unlit lamp (a notepad, pen, and cordless phone were all stacked around the light source). The girls clung to their mother - making it next to impossible for her to do anything but point and offer instructional advice - leaving Claire to do all the work of getting rid of the critter. He knew that she wouldn't mind though, since an ordinary rat was no problem after everything she had gone through, and besides, they both viewed the Burtons' to be a part of their family, so there wasn't even a second thought about helping out. It was with that very thought that Chris stood up and walked to where Barry was tending to Robin, who despite the foul language was no longer hopping in place.

"...Ice pack?" In the middle of asking if he should get one for the girl, Barry nodded over to Chris, speaking to him in his gruff voice as he approached, "Chris, would you mind staying here with her while I go fetch something for that injury? Anyways, I have the feeling that I'll be needed inside sooner or later."

Nodding mutely as the teen was put in his care for the time being, Chris traded spots with Barry as the older man left to do what he needed to do. Watching him as he started to leave up the dirt path to join everyone else inside, Chris wondered vaguely if it was really necessary for that many people to be inside, or even if this accident was worth the fuss; wearing sturdy boots known for their ability to withstand heavy wear, he found it shocking that the wrench had even registered. "Do what you have to, we'll be fine."

Breaking into a wide smile that she had only just recently began to show, Robin stood up perfectly straight, as if she had never been injured in the first place. "That's right, we'll be fine out here while you go away - Chris can take care of me, so need to worry! In fact, he'll be more than enough to... ...advantage... ...me. Relax, we'll be... ok? I know that you love me like a daughter, but Chris loves me more... a friend."

Words breaking up as if coming through a bad stereo, the image of Chris and Robin began to ripple and fade, blacking out in a dark shimmer to be replaced with a human-sized chicken sub sandwich and six-foot hunting knife; whereas the knife was unadorned, the sub was wearing a long violet ribbon that stretched on forever, the fabric darkening steadily. "He's not the first ripper to take a stab at carving my bun," Tittering to herself, Barry could tell that she was blushing, "but he will be the first lance to impale my juicy tomatoes and lightly roasted bird thighs."

"ROBIN!" Screaming the name of his adopted daughter at the top of his lungs, Barry Burton jumped up so quickly that he had almost gave himself whiplash in bed, startling his wife so badly that she also woke up. Pulling at the edges of her silken sleep mask, Kathy fixed a weary bead upon her spouse, half curious to know why he had disturbed her otherwise peaceful slumber and half reproachful that she had been roused for no real reason. Married to the woman for many years, he didn't need to reach out for the lights to see the frown on his other half, the darkness of the room leeching her of all color but blue. "...What a nightmare!"

Sighing as she sat up and pulled the cool strip of cloth to the top of her forehead, Kathy was just grateful that it wasn't one of the girls having a nightmare this time. "What is it?" While her husband had had a number of reoccurring nighttime visions, lately a number of them had included their teenage daughter; most of the time it had just been her getting older and starting to slip into the normalcy of other girls her age, but ever since Chris and his partner (another good friend of the family that they had met before all of the nastiness of that horrible mission) had been waiting for their next job to come in, Barry had become paranoid of the relationship Robin was developing with the pair of them, or rather just the one of them. Jill had yet to make a single appearance in any one of these new dreams. "Was it the one where Robin came back home one rainy night in tears?" That dream was one that she herself often feared would become a reality.

Shaking away the vivid perception of his mind, Barry didn't quite meet his wife's eye as he gazed back from the clock on his side of the bed; this one actually had a seed in real life, since just that day Chris and Claire had arrived for their week-long visit, and Robin had in fact been working on her old man's eventual graduation present for her - not that she knew what she had been working towards. Knowing Chris the way that he did, Barry would have said that it would have been impossible, and yet for just a fraction of a moment, he thought he had seen something there between his friend and daughter. The dream hadn't been so far from the truth at its start, but if Robin had dropped the wrench at all, no one had known about it, and none of them had gone inside for a rat that didn't exist...

If he told Kathy he thought he had seen something suspicious about Robin's behavior once, he had told her a thousand times; that girl had never shown any sort of interest in anyone since she had come to live with them - not all that surprising given the fact that she had just lost everything and everyone she had ever known - but once she had started to come out of her shell and accept her new beginning, everyone he had ever noticed her take an interest in had at least one thing in common with Chris. Chris was a good guy, so he could see why any woman would want someone like him, but not his little girl. He didn't care if they had only met three years ago - that girl was like a daughter to him, and like any father, he didn't want to see her interested in any guy, no matter who it was. Kathy kept telling him that he was just being overprotective, but he had it from two reliable sources that she was attracted to an 'older guy with brown hair'. Perhaps that was vague, but Chris fit that description a little too much for his liking.

Reading the hesitance in which her mate was taking to answer her question, she figured out exactly what the gist of the dream was, and that it had something to do with the way that Chris had looked at Robin during lunch that afternoon. Kathy wasn't stupid, and though she might not have been as close to Robin as she would have liked after all this time - she understood that the girl hadn't had the best relationship with her biological mother, so naturally she wouldn't be so quick to bond with another female - the adult could still figure out that the teen was developing a rather strong connection to Chris. So far as she had known, it had started out rather platonic - after just narrowly escaping death could it have been anything else? - and more importantly the growing fascination had been one-sided, but today she had caught the most peculiar expression of Chris' face, as if he had just seen Robin for the first time.

But surely it must have been in her imagination, because not only had Chris known Robin for three years now, but he was just the kind of guy that would have respected the boundary of her being his friend's child, no matter how much the child was developing into such a lovely young woman. Blood or not, Kathy still viewed that girl as her own daughter, and therefore she had seen her through the eyes of a parent, the same eyes that only saw her girls as beautiful, amazing, and perfect. Accepting Robin had been the easiest part of the last few years, never mind that they were just the kind of people that loved so easy and were so quick to open their arms, so it hurt to think that she could have come to love someone else before them. But whether or not Chris reciprocated the feelings, was whatever Robin feeling love? Maybe she had misread the lines and what Robin had been trying to communicate was not romantic love but the kind of chemistry between truly good friends. Maybe, but that seemed rather naive to think.

Coming back to Chris' part in all of this, Kathy had thought she had seen him steal a sideways peak at Robin as they sat down to speak and enjoy the summer sun, but he had taken the seat facing away from her, and even before he had sat down, she had been buried in that rusting old heap of junk, so she had her back to him the entire time. Could it have been possible that they had purposely chosen to take such stances, or was it just coincidence? Chris really wasn't the kind of pervert that ever looked twice at a girl he even suspected to be a minor, so it stood to reason that he wouldn't be interested in Robin, and besides, if he had shown any inkling that he had looked at her in that way, everyone around him would have ripped his throat out of his backside, no matter who the kid was. So it must have just been her imagination.

Although if she honestly believed that, why couldn't she shake the momentary expression on her friend's face? Her younger sisters kept insisting that while Robin liked a certain kind of guy, there wasn't anyone that was holding her fancy, however momma bear was worried enough about the situation that when she did stumble across the teen's journal, Kathy only skimmed enough to see that Robin had been telling her siblings the truth. And she might have also stumbled upon a passage that detailed how much it shocked her that she could warm up so quickly to the girls, although she simply attributed that fact to her beloved younger brother (who had apparently been one of the first victims of the outbreak). Kathy felt terribly for that invasion of privacy, but she had to know that she was justified in saying that anything suspect between Chris and Robin was purely in her husband's mind.

In her own mind, she had believed the evidence up until today, but maybe there was some merit to what Barry was saying, and that there really was something to be concerned about; the more thought Kathy put into the situation, the more convinced she became that Barry was right: there was something strange between Chris and Robin.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: I'll put it out there right now - this is a reboot of a reboot of an old story of mine. For those familiar with any of the old stories, some elements remain, some do not. So far as the title goes, I have stuck with the musical inspirations of the past, and in this instance, I went with a song that fits like a glove: <em>Between the Raindrops<em>, by Lifehouse feat. Natasha Bedingfield. I couldn't fit it on the summary due to the limited space, but this is rated more for later chapters. And yes, this is an OC-heavy story, as in a main original character, not that there will be a lot of OCs. I am not adopted, have never been held hostage, nor have I personally survived the decimation of an entire city, so I can only guess at how much time would be needed to pass for the characters to be on the mend, although for the purposes of this story, three years seems sufficient to me. And yes, this will be a ChrisOC pairing story, so yeah, that means that there might be a considerable age difference (technically eleven years). I imagine that Chris wouldn't be so quick to yield to that though, so keep in mind what kind of a man he is as you read this.

Anyways, please review! I'd really appreciate it!

Music: "Gehenna", by Slipknot. I was reluctant to pick this song mostly because I thought the song fit better for a chapter actually about Chris and Robin, but I think that most of the beginning lyrics fit seamlessly with the chapter anyways, so here we are.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	2. Hate It When You See Me Cry

Honking low and rumbling sleepily in the sooty city someplace in the distance, the dim sounds of far away traffic could be heard from the stationary atmosphere of the homey living room as he tried to sleep, but it wasn't those noises keeping him awake as he stared up at the ceiling, one arm crooked beneath his neck for support. Other than the occasional sound of inhabitants upstairs, it was relatively quiet in the house; even the world outside seemed contented to be resting at this time. What he wouldn't give at that moment to join them, to be free of the visions that refused to part from his inner eye, although knowing his luck, sleep would probably only exacerbate the images. Groaning at his gender as he shifted on the hackneyed couch, the beleaguered man tried to think of better thoughts, although the only other thing that came to him was the current calefaction.

Warm but not sweltering, the internal temperature was comfortable enough to just lay there in the airy alcove without any sort of a blanket, although the childish notion of hiding away behind the protection of a shield - even a shield made of nothing more than threadbare plaid covers - wasn't unwelcome. Running away wasn't normally his first answer to a problem, but this one issue was bothering him enough for the idea to strike every now and again at odd intervals. Speaking of striking at irregular intermissions, Chris wondered what time it even was; miserable as the answer might make him, he was still curious to know how long he had been laying there, trying so hard to not think, to just sleep it off. At this rate even a short catnap was sounding rather appealing.

Dusty like a midnight rose in the darkness, the modern digital clock on the mantle flashed the late hour as he gazed upon the rounded item, the ghostly green-white glow of the four numerals reflecting on the two nearest pictures, casting forward an opaque sheen. Though it was impossible to see in the present lighting, he knew from memory that the first picture showed Barry and Kathy each holding one of their girls, waving at the camera from the front of a water park so many years ago; considerably smaller than what they were now, Moira and Polly weren't the only proof that the photograph had been taken long ago, as Barry himself was visibly younger and less gray at the edges. Somehow Kathy manged to remain flawless as ever. The second shot was much newer, taken sometime last year at the local park; seated beneath the shade of a gigantic weeping willow, the four Burtons were delivering a frosting-less strawberry cake to a dark-haired youth, who returned the considerate gesture with a beholden smile. The photo couldn't have possibly captured it, but that was the day the paperwork had been filed for them to legally become Robin's guardians; celebrated annually since, it was the day that there officially became five members of the Burton family.

He himself had been the one to take that picture, so he could recount that day with near perfect recollection; not in the family photo, all of their close friends were there that day, except for Leon S. Kennedy, a good friend of Claire's and her fellow Raccoon City survivor. Speaking of survivors, it was Chris, Barry, and Jill's junior partner Rebecca Chambers and a good friend that had saved Robin back in Raccoon; landing in a far-off field after picking up Jill and a mercenary named Carlos Oliveira just before the city was obliterated, Rebecca introduced the girl to Barry formally after he had landed the evac copter. The soldier himself had met Robin three months after the fact, as he had been abroad in Europe during the events of Raccoon City, but since that time they had become friends in their own right, so she had requested him personally to take the picture.

Even back then she... No, he knew that he shouldn't dwell on the past or anything else that might lead him astray, so he closed his eyes to shut out more than the background noise; finding that nothing could keep his stray thoughts at bay - the vision of the supple backside tapering to a curvaceous waist lost beneath the hood of Barry's beaten old Jeep refused to leave him - he threw his eyes open as if the lids were burned from the inside by hot coals. He had seen Robin countless times over the last few years, and before today, he had never looked at the girl in that light, so then why now was her shapely figure coming to haunt his spare thoughts? Even if they hadn't met when she was fourteen and grieving, if they had met two weeks ago when she was happy and planning a girls day for herself, her mother, and her sisters, he doubted that he would have looked twice. Although why now was he noticing that she was becoming a real woman? Surely her body had always been that same length and shape? It made no sense that he would gaze at his friend - at the daughter of a friend - and see a woman suddenly!

But that was exactly what he had seen as he had taken his seat at lunch; nodding politely in her direction as he greeted her - the girl waving distractedly in return - he noticed for the first time as her arm fell back and disappeared in the hood that she had shape to her body. Thinking back to every other time he had seen her, she had always been dressed in loose-fitting shirts that hid most traces of gender, or else she had donned a leather jacket that had cut her a rather straight silhouette; this time, she was in a tight taupe tank top that hugged her every curve. Maybe she was also wearing some kind of protective sleeve or coat, but if so, he didn't recall seeing it.

Meanwhile, as Chris warred within himself over what he had seen and couldn't stop envisioning, as well as what it meant, a figure was stirring feebly on the bathroom floor, too groggy to remember that they had company camping down the hall and in the living room...

Mouth tasting like blood and head splitting as if cracked from behind by a metal chair, the first thing gray eyes saw as they forced themselves open was a hazy sideways view of the quartered tile checkering the downstairs bathroom in roasted honey and baked wheat. Struggling to sit up, there just wasn't enough strength in body or bone to make it happen, and at any rate the throbbing sensation filling up the remainder of skull that wasn't brain or eyeballs would have made it next to impossible to remain erect. Spreading out shaking hands after several moments of just laying there, the decidedly feminine form began to grasp and feel for anything that might help steady the shivering; however the only thing within reach was the sections of thick fuzzy curls reminiscent of a deep turquoise sea that partially obscured the tile.

Aware that the porcelain throne was mere inches away and just out sight, the next closest support would have been the oblong rectangle that fell just short of the ceiling; if only enough might could be mustered to reach for it, then just maybe the thickly achromatic striped shower curtain could provide enough resistance to help lift herself, although there was no guarantee that it would work. Best case scenario Robin would be able to pull herself up from the bathroom floor and no one would be any wiser, but on the other hand, she might only manage to rip the curtain down, which could alert someone to her dilemma, although again there was no way to be sure that anyone would hear her from upstairs. If she wanted someone to find her like this, it would have been easy enough to call out for help, but as it was, she didn't relish the thought of anyone seeing her curled up on the bathroom floor, face coated in tears and who knows what else.

Moaning to herself for her stupidity and weakness, Robin hated the person quivering on the floor for taking refuge in the bathroom so she could cry without the sounds spreading, alerting her new family to the fact that there were nights she was still struggling to cope with everything. They had done so much to make her feel welcome to the family, and she felt as if letting them know she still missed her old life would have been ungrateful - Kathy in particular had made great strides in making her feel like a part of the family, and it was no secret that she had been disappointed by the lack of progress in their relationship. Her new mother was everything that she and her brothers had ever wanted in a mom, but her own mother had damaged that image so severely she was worried that to fully accept Kathy would be the same as pulling the mask away to see a most horrible truth, that this new life was just a lie to lull her into a false sense of security before the monsters came back... Monsters both literal and figurative...

Three years ago, the world as everyone knew it had ended, and a new age of bio-terrorism had begun; thousands of people died, leaving only a handful of survivors, one of them being a fourteen year old girl that had just discovered a terrible truth about her own family. Her own mother - whom she had always thought to be spiteful simply because her father had loved his only daughter more than anyone else - had done something so horrible that she had repressed the memory, not telling a single soul what had happened to her in the space of time she had been separated from those that had rescued her. She had lost everything that ever mattered to her, left alone with nothing but memories, and not all of them were very good.

Were it not for the people that saved her, as well as the kind pilot that had taken her in after it came out that she had no immediate family to take her in, Robin had no idea where she'd be, and that thought truly frightened her. Barry Burton and his family were some of the first truly descent people the teen had ever met, and the fact that they had taken her in knowing virtually nothing about her was the nicest thing she had ever heard about in the real world. There was nothing said or done to imply that restitution was due - if reimbursement had been owed, the girl firmly believed that a greater sum than she could ever hope to repay in a thousand lifetimes had been incurred - yet that didn't keep her from imagining that the closest thing to payment she could give was love. With all her heart and soul she wanted to return even a fraction of what she had been granted, although coming to think of them as her family hadn't been an easy task for her, since she had always thought that family were those you born into, not those who loved you unconditionally. But the Burton family and their friends had shown her that that wasn't the case, that acceptance and family and love had nothing to do with blood.

Barry, Kathy, Moria and Polly, Chris and Claire, Jill, and Rebecca... Thinking of everything that everyone she had met during these last three years had done for her, of how they had saved her life and accepted her in turn, of all the invaluable lessons they had taught, the renewed tears came flowing freely on their own accord, the sobs soft but far from silent. Though a part of her couldn't shake the feeling that they viewed her like some fragile little doll - a fact that she simply detested - the wounded bird loved them in their own ways. After all, it was only natural that any kid in her position would be destroyed over what had happened to them, so it made sense that everyone would have expected her to just give up and give in and be some moody little crybaby, but she didn't want to be that girl. She wanted to be strong if for no other reason than to honor the memories of her three brothers. No one said she had to, but keeping up a brave front made the girl feel as if she were doing her brothers proud, as well as showing her loved ones that she had moved on and was starting to see herself as a part of the family; every time she did this, broke down and lost it, it felt as if she was letting them all down.

"Hello? Robin, is that you?" There was a soft knock on the other side of the tawny door, and Chris slowly reached out for the brassy handle, twisting deliberately so the teen had plenty of time to cover up or let him know that she was indecent. Receiving no reply, he figured that it would be alright to enter, yet all the same he took his sweet time to poke his head around the swinging door to look around the cubby of muted sunshine. After whatever had happened today, the last thing he wanted was to give it any more room to grow. "I heard crying... Are you alright Little Bird?"

Chris?! Slackening her hold on the painted wool-ish grass below her trembling tips, the maiden hastened to wipe the tears from her eyes, pondering what in the world he would be doing here, and now of all times. And then it hit her hard that he and Claire were visiting for the weekend; Chris and Jill both had some down time at the moment, but the bonny brunette was spending her free time with another friend, and Claire's apartment was being fumigated, so the timing fit nicely for this sojourn. Until this frozen moment, the adolescent had completely blanked that the room right across the hall from her own had housed one person that would listen silently and with sympathy, had she actually been in much of a speaking mood earlier. Claire was great, and because of her own experiences, she would understand better than most what the teen had gone through, but with that understanding came Robin's fear that if she said the wrong thing, Claire might see fit to tell her parents, or worse, she might betray one of her own jealously-guarded secrets to the redhead, who might in turn not understand how much it meant and laugh it off with one of them later...

In truth Robin worried that some people might have already suspected her, so that was why she planted the diary specifically in a place it would be discovered, and she took care to slip to her sisters certain information; the girls should have been more than enough evidence on their own, but the teen didn't want to risk her secret on chance alone. It wasn't that she distrusted Claire in that manner, but if anyone knew that she had a small crush on who she did, it might cause a bit of an uproar, and she didn't want to be the person responsible for him having to go on the run... Feelings aside, he might not have blamed her for such a blunder as leaving the impression that something had happened in the past if it wasn't ongoing, but she would have faulted herself.

Anyways, her mind turned back to the situation at hand; vividly aware of how this must look, some part of her brain was fussing more over the fact that she had to be found in a pair of her boxer shorts; convinced by one of her brothers that she had monstrously thick legs (thanks in large to a lifetime of dance and sports), it was hard for her to wear shorts, but due to the heat her usual choice of pants seemed foolish. Hmm, not so foolish now that Chris having a good gander - it was a good thing that she had shaved her legs last night, so aside from one small nick, they were baby smooth. Why ever any of that mattered at this juncture.

"Robin...?" Cris repeating her name with such uncertainty not only anchored her mind back from such superficial thoughts but also impressed upon her the gravity of the circumstances, such as the fact that at first glance this would look terrible, as if she were trying something stupid. But was the assumption really worse than the truth? It could have been anyone who found her crumpled on the floor, weak and just barely in control of her senses, but of course it would be good fortune that the person she most looked up to would be the one person to find her at her weakest, crumbling and a fragmented disasterpiece. Lamenting this turn of events, Robin merely closed her eyes in defeat, praying that this humiliation would only be a dream when she opened them once more.

Obviously that would be too kind. Just as she feared, the minute that her steady gray orbs opened, the bathroom came snapping back into place with the cold lump of guilt forming in her stomach, the light still off as Chris' first move was to kneel down by her side to make sure that she wasn't physically injured in any way. "I'm fine," her voice sounded meek in her own ears, cracking from being so dry, but surely he would have known her better than to think that this scene was what it appeared to be, "I just..." A slight blush spread across her face, because having to say it all out loud made it that much more embarrassing. "I wanted to be alone, so I came down here. Sorry if I woke you."

Concerned for the reason she'd want to be alone, and even more so for the fact that she was spread face-down on the bathroom floor, Chris immediately grabbed her arms without preamble and began examining her body for any sign that she was harming herself, although he wasn't ruling out that she had taken something she shouldn't have. Seeing exactly what he was thinking by his actions, Robin tore her arm away with surprising force (weary of it being inspected for other reasons), deeply hurt that he would be so quick to think something like that of her. Even at her lowest, suicide would be the biggest slap of disrespect she could give, both to the living and the dead. Surely he must have known how she felt about that by now, so why was he so quick to believe that she would do something like that?!

Forcing herself to sit and remain in that position from indignation alone, the girl scowled at Chris so fiercely that her forehead crinkled, narrowed eyes glaring ice daggers. "I wasn't trying to kill myself! By now I thought that everyone would know that about me. Especially you of all people." Cutting more than deep, her words traced back to some of their earliest encounters, when he had discovered her interest in blades and had started to give her defensive lessons in how to use them; at the final lesson, he had given her a brand new survival knife of her very own, with the promise that she only every use it when the situation absolutely required. "I can't repay my debt if I'm dead... I..." Robin sighed, figuring that there was no point hiding it anymore, "I only came in here to cry, but when I went to go back to bed, I hit my head on the towel rack."

That story might have rung suspicious simply for how simple it was, had the over-fluffed butter-colored towels not been rumpled on the floor a small ways off from being knocked down; a modest smear of freshly dried blood decorated the corner of the silver bar; if they had told Barry once, they had all told him a half a dozen times that the bar was placed too close to the toilet. "I'm sorry Little Bird, I just care about you, so I got scared..." Smiling weakly without even considering what an understatement that might have been, he acted the friend he had always been to her, holding out his hand in apology, "Can I have a look at the damage?"

She hated that there was something about him that made it hard to stay angry - she had tried once to remain mad at Chris for something stupid, but after half an hour, she had completely forgotten whatever it was she was trying to hold on to. However this time was different, and forgiveness wasn't so quick to come. "I guess you can," letting him hear in her tone how wounded she was by the way he behaved, she brushed her long hair aside to one shoulder and bunched it up so he could get a better look at her head, "but only because I don't want find out later there was permanent damage that might have been avoidable."

Exposing her nape to him - one or two obsidian strands hanging loosely down her neck, trailing past her bare collarbone before becoming lost against the murky fabric of her cotton camisole... - it dawned on Chris just how quickly events transpired, how everything had happened so fast that he hadn't taken into account the past several hours, or the fact that her family and his sister were sleeping upstairs at that very minute. In that one second she flashed a part of herself that should have been innocent, his mind went from thinking as a responsible adult to admiring the spicy-sweet scent wafting up from some part of her. "That smell..."

"Sorry?" Allowing a good portion of her hair to tumble down as her grip slackened, Robin shot a questioning look at Chris, sure that she must have misheard what he had said; their proximity was dizzying, or maybe it was something else that had her head twisting and turning, the room spinning out of control...

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: Suicide is a very real issue - I have had many people close to me either take their own life or know someone else that has acted on the sorrow. Even if its only one person, it helps to talk about your pain! So please, don't think that your so alone out there, you beautiful souls you! And back to petty story issues, I had a tough time figuring out how to start the chapter, and even who to start it with, but I think it came out pretty good! And seriously, what is it with bathroom scenes?! As if survival horror games don't find enough opportunity to include a bathroom, it feels as if some of my best scenes so far happen in the bathroom! Bah.<p>

Anyways, please review! I'd really appreciate it!

Music: "Hate It When You See Me Cry", by Halestorm. Thankfully this song not only came easy to me, but it actually helped me a lot in writing this chapter, since I got stuck a couple of times.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	3. Innocence

Slipping in and out of focus in a milky blur, Chris was confident that Robin's somber slate-colored orbs could barely make out the look on his face - if she could see him at all - as he pulled her into his arms before she could swoon and hurt herself anew. Reasoning that anyone else would have been screaming on the inside to see a child fall under this same ailment, that he would not have been the only person to jerk automatically into action, the soldier clung tighter to the school girl so that her prone form was curled against his chest like an over-sized infant. Forced to observe as the teen's flittering gaze began twitching and rolling beneath half-closed lids, sliding back and forth as they rolled around in her head like dappled marbles, he was glad to recall that he had kept a limited inventory on his person at all given times. Knowing the limp lady the way that he did, he could easily imagining her asking why he made that decision, although if she had been on her toes, it would have been more in her character to pondered upon the question that if she didn't look half-dead, might she have appeared possessed? It was a nonsense point to think about at this juncture, but that was just the sort of thing that Robin would do at a time like this.

Hardly sparing even a moment to remember that the folded up napkin in his stock was a phone number hastily scrawled in slightly smeared cherry-hued lipstick, Chris dug frenetically for the array of herbs he knew would heal Robin's injury; locating a compact clump of plants, he decided that it would be in the teen's best interest to just combine a red and a green and be done with it. Prying apart the roots he required and mixing them with the skills of a person that had done a certain task a great number of times, the brunette applied the medicine to the back of her head (he found it worked better to treat directly, as opposed to just eating the plants and hoping for the best), watching intently as she sluggishly came to. If something had gone wrong with the concoction, Barry would have had his head on a spike before breakfast, although he wouldn't have been the only one calling for blood...

Replenished from the miracle leaf bit by little bit, Chris assumed from his own experiences that the first thing Robin would notice was that the heavy throb previously filling every corner of her head was gone, replaced by a slight tingling sensation as the rest of the cranial damage was undone, leaving her as good as new. Relatively speaking. Trusting that the lighting was on his side she wouldn't have detected anything else about the scene, but if that wasn't to be the case - and at this rate it seemed unlikely that either should catch any sort of a break - the girl would have discerned something else in himself. Judging from the look in her eyes though, Robin had caught the betrayal of something in his own peepers; beyond the darkness dancing through the muddy color of his own orbs - the various shades of umber heightened partially out of panic for how the situation could have played out - his irises unmasked something more, although what was lost to the darkest depths, thankfully.

Whereas the budding bloom discovering anything about the way he was looking at her would have been nothing short of catastrophic, the ripe buck couldn't contain the relief that broke through the sudden terror that had gripped the man as his companion abruptly swayed in place, cracking over his face like the thick, slippery coating of yoke. His Little Bird was fine now, which meant that a lengthy discourse was undoubtedly not far behind her question. At least, he expected that there would have been an echo of her father in the castigation she should have delivered if he had been forced to confess what was on his mind moments prior to her unexpected collapse. Or was that what he wanted to hear? If she were to somehow sense or guess what he had been thinking at almost any given point this night, she could have admonished him for it, and then that might have been the end of this strange and unwelcome chain of thoughts he was having.

Yes, that very well might have been the cure to whatever this was, but would that be her reaction to his admittance? It was very obvious that she had a schoolgirl crush on him - to use his sister's words as she advised him to be careful of how he handled his friendship with the teen - yet everyone who saw it simply allowed her to go on thinking that it was some big secret. Her parents seemed blind to it all around, thankfully, but everyone else seemed well aware of the long sighs as his name was mentioned in her presence, the dreamy look on her face as she spoke of her - and again this was quoting an outside source - 'hero and dear friend'. All the evidence pointed to her handling any kind of revelation in a similar manner to most girls her age, although tonight he had already made the mistake of making an assumption about her behavior, and how did that end up? Perhaps he should have given her more credit and treated her as a capable adult; having survived Raccoon City, Robin had certainly undergone horrors even most grown-ups could never fathom, yet what experience did she have when it came to matters of the opposite sex?

According to the present intelligence gathered, the teen had done little more than veil her affections for Chris, meaning that if she had fancied any other boy (hopefully closer to her own age, although that seemed an unlikely dream) they all would have picked up on it by now. It was always feasible that she had gotten up to something in her past - although taking into consideration that he didn't know it to be in her nature, Chris saw that as preposterous - so she had a better clue than any of them had thought, which begged the question of whether or not she was some kind of evil genius. The genius part he might believe, but Robin was a genuinely good girl from what he could tell, so he firmly placed confidence in the idea that she was still a virgin. She had better be, or else Barry wouldn't be the only person to make heads roll on the day it came out that she was no longer pure... From a strictly brotherly perspective of course.

Fluttering lashes many had heard being referred to as 'lamentably short' (Chris himself had to disagree with that assessment), Robin turned her attention away from the chestnut hues of Chris' eyes, gazing instead at the hand still perched atop her exposed shoulder, the strap lank near the bottom of the ball. Obviously it had been the one topic they had never pursued in their lengthy private talks, but she didn't need to a say single word to see that she had just given thought to the forbidden hope she strove to hide, even in her own mind. If - or rather when - she gave it any life in even the shortest of their exchanges, the girl would try to put on airs as if the person she adored was just one of her many adult friends, always nameless, faceless, pretend. As if seeing through the specimen, he could tell that she would vainly try to shove the identity off as anyone else but him even in the private corners of her mind, because she knew that if she allowed herself to imagine even a little at what could be, she would somehow ruin what was, and she didn't want that.

After all, it hardly took a rocket scientist to connect the dots that Chris was one of the first few who really got her (true her father had figured out most of the clever methods used to crack her shell, such as encouraging her interest in mechanics), and even counting those back in the old echoes of Raccoon City, he was the best friend she ever had. After losing interest in nearly everything she had used to hold dear, it was Chris that had inspired her to go back to the gym, to the sports that would give her something else to focus on, to the way of the knife. He had given her one of her prized possessions that she would never leave the house without, and it had been him that would bring the biggest smile on her face when she heard he would be in town. He had been sitting in the first row with his sister and her family at the first dance recital she had since picking up her tutu once more, and he had been the one she wanted to go to first whenever there was a problem, or she just needed to hear a friendly voice.

Finding it to be sharper than the reproachful look she had thrown him for judging and babying her the way that everyone else did, this razor-edged clarity felt as if it were being forced down his throat, scrapping against his insides as it worked its way deeper into his insides. Honestly curious to know if he would be seeing so deep inside Robin at this moment if he hadn't just awoken to find her blossoming into an adult, Chris speculated as to whether or not he was the only one to see the girl's desire for more of them to understand that she was on the verge of becoming a full-fledged woman, not a ticking time bomb or broken doll. He wondered if anyone really knew her, this crazy-wonderful creature that was presenting herself almost telepathically to him.

No less wrong thinking about things in terms of her being nearly legal, not even weighing her personal triumphs and sorrows could help Chris figure out how to treat this situation - on one hand, Robin was truly a good friend to him, despite her age and relations, yet on the other, she was ill-equipped to deal with an issue like this, regardless of how mature she had proven herself to be at times. So thoroughly confused by what to do at this juncture, he didn't immediately realize the way she was staring up at him, her gray eyes glazed over with something that wasn't related to her fall, mouth white as she bit her lips back in an attempt at a sexy sneer. As a responsible adult, he knew that this was the line, and that he should have removed her from his grasp as his way of drawing his side, and yet he couldn't quite bring himself to let go of her warm body... So warm, the smell from earlier had penetrated his nose once more, beckoning...

Fight it! Scratch and claw and survive, that's what his brain told him as it insisted like a nagging whisper that he just drop her - no, shove her away if need be - just don't breath it in. Don't get suffocated by that captivating aroma, don't think of that juicy curve that was her back as she worked, don't remember the smile she had given him as he first offered her lessons in self-defense, the way she would laugh at him whenever he did something stupid, all of the times she had asked him to help her break a sweat... Don't. Do. It. "Robin," Chris cleared his throat in an effort to regain his senses, "it's late, you should get going to bed."

Refusing to budge a single inch at his request, he justified his failure of reinforcing his words as it simply being such a long time since he'd last felt contact from another human being. Acutely aware of the fact that it was such a weak argument that that was almost a flat-out lie, petty excuses paled to the shift in her face; frowning with her plush pout, it seemed as if she were suddenly afraid of something, but surely she must have known that the danger was in remaining so close to him as his restraint ebbed away? Something told him that if they stayed sitting that way on the bathroom floor much longer, something truly regrettable was going to happen, something that could never be taken back, and short of her own refusal, there wasn't anything that was going to stop him from acting on the strange feeling urging him on.

Battling the demon that couldn't be fully explained in a more satisfying way than simple human attraction, as well as the lure of the forbidden, he knew that he should warn her of what might happen next, of what he felt this strange evil might be capable, yet neither did more than continue to gawk at the other. It was in her too, he could tell, and it wasn't just this mounting urge to act, but the restraining fear that they might never again feel this magical moment of closeness, at least not until her next life-threating snafu, and who knew when that would be. There was a powerful pull, far more intense than he could remember feeling since he had first taken this step with Jill, and that was saying something.

Shit, this was so wrong! Relationship with Barry aside (that was an issue all its own right there), Robin was his friend, and she was still only a child! Logic reminded him oh so kindly that she was closer to eighteen now than seventeen, and that even with her virginity intact - and that was a mystery as to if it was or not - she would still be a consenting partner. As for their friendship, he should have known from everything with Jill that having sex and being friends could really complicate issues, but surely that was a bridge they could cross later? Dammit, why did this have to be so wrong and yet feel so right?! Robin, pressed into his arms as if her life depended on it, her eyes so wide and curious to know, her lips parted slightly to taunt him with what he was missing out on by remaining in place.

Loathing himself for mentally crossing that boundary already, Chris tried to reminded himself of all the good times they had shared as just friends, and of what he stood to risk losing if anything did come out of this momentary lapse into insanity: Robin might have been just a kid, but she fully understood what he was fighting for, and why it had to be him doing the fighting. Who else but a fellow opponent of cruelty and injustice would get that? She saw his side of the story in a way that no one else had, and what was more, she even said that should have done it the same way he had if she had been in his position. If that wasn't a bond best shared by only friends... Well, on second thought, he still had a similar repartee with Jill even after trying to make that into something more, but without the hero worship.

Wait just a minute... It occurred to Chris that this could have been some kind of early mid-life crisis, where he sought the praise and attentions of a younger female partner only because she would have been fresher and more inclined to boost his ego while taking suggestions (and what suggestions he could offer). "If someone asked you to do anything they wanted," he was quick to specify, hoping that his words wouldn't encourage the girl in a way that they shouldn't, "someone you cared about, would you do it? Without question?"

Tripped up from the inquiry that seemed to come out of nowhere, it was apparent that some of the mental glitter framing the scene in her head halted in place, although her reply came quickly enough to indicate that she already had her answer. It was also transparent by the delicate intonation that Robin was still apprehensive that this was a dream that would crumble to ash and dust at the slightest mistake, "No, I have my boundaries. And I would never not question something - I learned long ago that you can't take anything for granted."

Proud of her answer in a similar fashion that a big brother - or jealous lover - would be, also somewhat curious to delve into the dark undertone of the lesson she had learned, Chris realized with a cold, heart-stopping jolt that he still was tempted to take advantage. Taking advantage made it sound terrible, but this scenario was one that he never would have dreamed of finding himself in, so why shouldn't he call it what it was? Why spare himself when he was considering something almost as depraved as those he sought to bring to justice? No better than them, he might have been worse in some regards, since at least most of them saw themselves as having a good reason for their actions, as opposed to him just wanting to take that innocence Robin wore so temptingly around just the right parts in a single day.

"Chris...?" Part child greedy at Christmas as they unwrapped the present they wanted most, part doe in the headlights, merely waiting to be shown the path, and part something he couldn't identify, Robin called his name, tilting her head just enough to the side so that she was at the optimal placement for his lips to meet hers. Was it possible that she really was some prodigy that was carefully calculating every step towards this? "...I should..." She seemed to be inching ever closer, millimeter by maddening millimeter, "tell..." for a moment Chris paused, his body becoming tauter than a drawn arrow awaiting its victim, mind reeling even more uncontrollably as he panicked and thought of Barry's reaction, "you..."

Less than a hairsbreadth from grazing, their lips tingled already from the anticipation of contact, noses positioned magically in just the right places, and all he could think in that one instant was how he had never seen her eyes so close, their depths shining so bright. Even in the natural light of night, the minuscule flecks of orange-ish amber looked like their own constellations in a galaxy of steel, ice, and something he wanted to call love. He had no idea why that word would strike him as they locked eyes, but the emotion was like all of the stars in the sky had been placed in her own universe, and as they gazed at each other in that one moment, it was is if he could perfectly understand everything that their light was trying to communicate, no guesswork required.

Terrified of what to expect, of what do to next if he didn't pull away and come to his senses, he could tell in that one look that she was petrified of going on, but she was somehow even more alarmed about what would happen if they stopped there. Positive that he wasn't just seeing it in her eyes for his own selfish sake, Robin was ready and determined that something should happen now, and that was exactly what he needed to see to bring him back to his senses - she deserved better than to say that her first kiss was brought on by a head injury, that her first time was couped up in the guest bathroom of her own house. He couldn't - he wouldn't - do that to his friend; this child was owed better.

Knowing it was the right thing didn't make it any easier as he pulled away from her lips, instead kissing her cheek to try and cement the idea of a friendship closer to that of a brother and sister than a romantic one between two lovers. He knew that it would crush her, and maybe even drive her to despise him, but this was for the best. Or so he hoped. "No, Little Bird, this isn't right." His hands found hers, blocking them from becoming tools of inflicting pain, "You know that we shouldn't be here, like this. It isn't right. For one thing, we're friends, and..." He caught himself just as he been about to bring up her age; out of every argument he could make that this wasn't right, her years would have been the one that set her off the most.

Coming out shaper than she had intended, the teen was torn between outrage, disappointment, and undoubtedly the feeling that it was something about her appearance that had changed his mind. "It's my legs, isn't it?" Curled up on her knees, the most she could do at that moment was look in their shapely direction. "My brother always said that I had ugly legs, that I played too much soccer as a girl. Or was it the scars on my arms?" Jackets and long sleeves were a fairly common component of her wardrobe for a reason, but it was one he failed to grasp in that instant. "I'm too much of a freak, aren't I? Too broken on the inside and too marred on the out. That's what my mother - my real mother - said to me. It'll never be honest, never right - I was foolish to think otherwise, wasn't I?" Sorrow personified, the woman in Chris' arms trembled, but it was more the quivering of water without a container to give it shape than the oscillation of a sobbing figure. Shrill as any dog whistle Robin cried out in anguish, her form silvery and voice echoing like a distant church bell as she burst against him, soaking his torso though with what he hoped was only water... "You're just too perfect for my hands to hold."

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Because the herbs aren't a perfect fix-all solution, although in fairness they do seem to work far better than they should. And on the note of yellow herbs, I was thinking that to put them in a more realistic setting, they would either just increase the potency of a combination even further, or they would be rumored to increase the life expectancy of their user, hence the rareness of them. That's what I was thinking at least. The ball being the bottom part of her shoulder. This actually started out as a shortened version of the original chapter, which would have taken the story in a drastically different direction had I stayed that course. It wasn't a bad course, but I think this way will develop Robin more as her own character. From there, it kind of evolved into what it is now - another dream. I don't want people to think that this is the author giving the finger, because I assure you it isn't! So many chapters in, I realized that the way things were progressing, I was heading for trouble, and by doing this, I can actually sketch out a more in-depth relationship between the characters. Really it's for the best.<p>

Anyways, please review! I'd really appreciate it!

Music: "Innocence", by Halestorm. I originally had "Forgive Me", by Evanescence, but in changing the chapter POV I changed the tone, which actually made it a lot easier to lock the song choice. This one was one of the more troublesome chapters in terms of locking down a song.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	4. Mr Sandman

Upstairs and down the end the T-shaped hallway (the staircase taking up a generous portion of the apex of the hall), over the distance of a rectangular antiqued rug imprinted with burned scarlet roses, behind the last door to the left (originally the nicer of the two guest rooms), stood the dwelling place of a certain teen girl. The other side of the door had been painted a dreamy shade of lavender that complimented the remaining bluebell wallpaper, and like the rest of the room, it was so smeared with various singers and bands that the color below was barely discernible. Shoved against the wall furthest from Moira's, the bed was three mattresses stacked on top of the other, a tiered bed skirt of periwinkle and navy flouncing out beneath a different set that was darker than the inky night sky; a matching set of ebony curtains glimmered beneath the colossal ivory bows that kept the canopy in place. The sheets were like snow marbled with hot, neon pink and a florescent cyan-ish aqua, where the comforter was at harmony with the bottommost layer of wanton cloth; to complete this clashing vision were solid pillowcases of black and white. Overall, it looked as if she had ransacked at least three different bedding sets and kept only the pieces she liked, even if they were at odds with each other.

Lace spray-painted with silver and gold glitter to look like one rendition of heaven, the curtains were often to be seen fluttering in the earthy breeze, but as it was so late (or early, depending on how you wanted to look at it) and the window was closed, they hung limp before a vase of yellow roses and carnations of pink, red, and white. The rest of the furniture was dark to match the cherry headboard that housed an expensive-looking CD player - which had been a gift from Chris for her sixteenth birthday - with the exception of an orange-framed mirror mounted on the surface opposite her bed. Like her father, Robin was also a member of the NRA, so there was a model handgun on her nightstand right next to some gun maintenance manuals; under those were books on machines and how-tos on how to care for engines properly. Lost underneath all of that was a forgotten layer of bumper stickers that she hadn't looked at in ages. Right next to the nightstand - which also was home to a purple lava lamp that had replaced the lava with glitter - was a dresser hidden beneath mounds of music books and a shiny black electric guitar; not folded inside, jumbles of clothes spilled over the top of the drawers, but the most noticeable feature was the acid-green bra dangling carelessly from a tangle of shamefully stringy underwear.

Laid out on the mattress with her dark locks fanning out atop the most comfortable of the four pillows, the colors bleeding smoothly, Robin breathed in the air gradually as she slumbered; dreaming of Chris, the teen could almost feel his hands roaming nomadically across the expanse of her semi-nude mid-riff as the bare flesh was tauntingly revealed inch by scanty inch. Material bundling in volume as it came closer and closer to coming off altogether, the body itself recalled the eagerness in which he was touching her, moving even in slumber to the way he had prized her silhouette, tingling as the ghost of desire lost himself to what she wished he had been holding back. It felt so good, and yet something was wrong...

Like the fact that it was just a dream for starters. Bemoaning that issue as her body became just conscious enough to realize that her mind was shifting from one (arguably) created reality to the next, the teen could feel her innards shifting as if they had just been pucker-punched by Ryu, the parts that hadn't imploded on contact sinking lower and lower. All too familiar with that unpleasant sensation, the teen could tell right away that it was one of those damnable works of imagination where Chris had just rebuffed her affections. This soon into the mental hell of possibilities, it was always hard to tell if it was one where he tried to remain her friend afterwards or not (it was difficult sometimes to figure out which scenario hurt the most). Stomach squirming all too realistically as her dream self fought to understand why it had to be this way, her heart contracted with each final beat, shriveling away as it was torn to pieces, and all the while the maiden knew that the end was near, but just as in real life, was unable to do anything about it.

Feeding off the suffering the same way that a parasite draws life, the words were inevitable for the ear, but why did time have to play that fatal hand so quickly? All this time spent trying to convince herself that just maybe the day would never come when Chris had to rip out her heart, for what?! In this mad, mad world, Chris was the one place she could be sure that was immune to attack and danger - he was a haven from the memories of her final moments with her birth mother as well as an escape from the monotonous mundane that had been carefully erected around her like a non-bouncing bubble of boring. He was home to a soul that had been ripped from the body it knew. He made her feel safe like no one ever had before, including her family and the new beretta hidden amongst the colorful threads that called themselves undergarments. But now that he had rejected her, what was left of her living sanctuary?

Head throbbing dully from the crack he had mended a mere hour ago, Robin could see Chris as a balmy green thread that weaved so steadily throughout the pattern of her life; an argument that been waging since they first became friends, she could appreciate that he was a pillar of strength and sanity for her, as well as the best friend she would ever have, so the price of despoiling that thread was always there, gleaming brazenly. Fighting against both sides of the same coin, concealing the feelings she harbored was an eternal struggle that was lost almost daily, sometimes multiple times, because Chris really did mean that much to her. It would have been so much easier if the attraction had been purely physical! Now that he was delivering that deathblow, optimism became a joke that wasn't even funny, because even though he was trying to keep it light and convey the hope that they could go on as if this never happened, it was painfully obvious that they could never return to what they had. Having to experience this same speech at least once a week, none of the sting had died at learning that he had discovered what she had striven so arduously to eclipse, that for the remainder of this world the girl would have to go on with her life, pretending that nothing had changed between them. Thinking of the next time they would bump into each other with company, it was humiliating enough to have to face him knowing that he had no interest in her in that way, but if any one else were to know... The teen shivered at the very thought.

Masking as much of the pain as she possibly could, in truth Robin still couldn't find the strength in herself after more than a million of these fictional brush-offs, and she was well aware that her weakness showed, so she could hardly blame him for keeping a steady eye on her, waiting diligently for the fissures to settle so he could get a better feel for the severity of the cracks. They both knew that it wasn't vanity that told him that this might break her, but a genuine understanding of Robin as a person. The soldier might not be able to predict her every course of action, but he could at least surmise the directions they might take if given the chance; while it had come as a shock to all of them that she had agreed to go to therapy, something told him that he was a rare one to anticipate her snap decisions. Or maybe he just thought that to feed the idea of some greater bond... Was it so wrong to want to be understood? He didn't think so, although the target he intended to latch to might have been incredibly displaced, especially now.

Desiring even still to give her the credit of being able to comprehend complex adult situations, and also partially just from the wish to wipe the tears off her cheeks and put a smile back on her face, Chris couldn't take the blame she was putting on herself when it was so far off the mark. After all, it wasn't her fault that things had just happened this way, and that he had suddenly realized that he wanted her (oh, she wouldn't have given for that to be true!). Reaching out for her emotionally since he dare not risk doing so physically - it was something he would have done for anyone in need really - the man shook his head, moving slowly to stand up. Neither had realized it at first, but in this dream they were seated at the same park they had celebrated her adoption, although in this broken timeline it was night, and for whatever reason there were body-bags swinging from the old trees and propped against the other benches as if they were sitting there for a picnic.

Hiccuping slightly as she contended with mastering the choked heaving of her chest, Robin swayed her head from side-to-side. "I don't want any more people to see me crying like this. I try so hard to be strong, just like you," amending her words, she averted her gaze to the haphazard contents strewn across the top of the blanket they were seated at, the ants larger than normal as they marched off with the shredded remains of what appeared to be a seven year old, "like all of you. I don't want my mom and dad to think that I'm ungrateful, that I don't love them. And even if they didn't think that, they'd still worry about me, and I don't want them to, since I'm happy." Her eyes veered from the bottle of off-brand seasoning, locking into his magnificent brown beads. It hurt to look at one of the most beautiful parts of him, but she couldn't pull her gaze away now that she had fallen into their depths. "...Relatively speaking." More than mere torment, it felt as if it were torturing her very soul to be lost in his gaze.

Perceiving what this ordeal was costing her mentally and spiritually, he was once more divided between respecting her request to try and jeopardizing everything, or else maintaining their long-standing friendship; ultimately moving to hold her again, doing more than embracing her body, Chris acted on impulse. So young and so ripe, he had enveloped her into his arms, crushing so tightly that neither could move; it was a double-edged sword, but he didn't trust himself to do the right thing, not even when her voice had broken through the barrier of his shoulder to ask him one simple word: "Why?"

Why? Because she was his best friend, and he didn't want to jeopardize that by screwing her brains out. Heaving a sigh only half as heavy as his intonation, Chris gave Robin just enough space so she could move her head to meet his eye, "Because, Little Bird, it has to be this way. If I let you go now, I might as well be letting you go. I didn't turn you down because I don't love you, I did it because I don't know if I can take the changes this will bring. Can you?" Holding his breath as she made up her mind, the young woman inclined her head after a a few moments of thought, indicating that she completely understood the gravity of the situation. It was the answer he secretly wanted, but was it really her answer? "Do you promise?"

Unsure if she could handle what he was going to say in truth, Robin did know for a fact that this was one of those times that anyone else she knew would have protected her from, thinking that she was too fragile to cope with something even remotely adult. Admittedly there had been times she took advantage of that, but most of the time that treatment perturbed her more than anything else; she got that it was done out of love, but it still stung that only Chris would give her the credit she felt she deserved after Raccoon City. "I promise that I can try." To both Redfield and Burton, there was no higher order than that of a promise made, "I swear I will do my best!"

Back in the real world, before she had shuffled up to bed after a short but traumatic encounter with the real Chris, Robin hadn't seen through the shame that his eyes were drawn tight to the slight swish of her onyx hair as she whispered a hasty goodnight and whipped up the stairs with her tail between her legs. So that meant that she had also missed the way that his irises absorbed the details of how her flimsy tanktop bunched over the bright purple drawstring of her clingy shorts, the sway of her hips as she tip-toed from the bathroom through the shadows and eggshells. However, just as his peripherals made note of the various awards and pictures lining the hall walls, the exorbitant vases bursting with fresh handfuls of shoots and blooms taken from the surrounding land, and the crisp white portals, wraith Robin had not missed that shadow Chris relaxed upon her oath. Were it not for the thorny mood they parted in, the girl might have seen what had made Chris retreat so expeditiously back to his temporary place on the couch, but alas, she did not, so as far as real life was concerned, what he did to her next in the dream was impossible...

Cautious of the fact that she had never been handled so tenderly before, the soldier allowed his hold to slacken even further at her vow, allowing for even more visibility; gazing at her with such an unparalleled intensity, she hadn't immediately realized that he was kissing her, lips chapped and rough as he brushed them across her own. Though in some ways it was rather comparable to sandpaper, it was exactly the way she had prophesied in the rampant daydreams that were contrary to reason. Nodular and yet somehow yielding - everything that the teen could have ever hoped her first real chosen kiss would be - it was... It was...

Over before it even started, thanks to the sudden outburst coming from up the hall. Plagued with his own terrible nightmares as of late, Barry had screamed out his eldest daughter's name in the dead of night, disturbing any hope she might of had at a happy ending... Voicing ringing in her ears as if the chiding of taunting demons, Robin groaned, pulling herself up into a sitting position. On one hand, she wanted to be sure that her father was worried over nothing, that there wasn't some new emergency, yet if she ventured beyond this place and saw him at this juncture, she might try and throttle him from interrupting a sour moment turned sweet. Plus, if she did get up to check on him, she might have bumped into her sisters first, and she didn't particularly feel up to explaining that their father was struggling to come to terms with the fact that they would all grow up sooner than later.

Come to think of it, poor Claire was probably stuck trying to explain that to them at this very moment, unless she too had the sense to leave Barry to his inner monsters. Speaking of the admirable young adult sleeping on the same floor as the rest of the family, Robin's mind wondered downstairs, to where Chris was still sprawled on the couch, fighting to catch even part of the sleep that was eluding him. Almost lucky enough to close his eyes for longer than forty-five seconds after his own startling vision, he had jolted into a standing position with his back to the mantle as he scanned the room for danger; Barry was a great friend to him, but tonight was really marking a new level of irritation for the older man. In truth, he was rather glad that he had had little interaction with Barry during the Mansion Incident in the Arklay Mountains, since he wasn't entirely sure he would have handled the seeming betrayal as gracefully as Jill had - part of him certainly wasn't overly enthused with Robin at this time either, but how could he be when what little sleep he had gotten was hampered by the girl at every conceivable turn?!

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><p>Author's Note: Partially its own thing, most of Robin's room is actually descriptions from other versions of my story combined into one - thankfully the old stories were kinda vague on the details, so that left me plenty of wiggle room to come up with what you see. Personally the closest I get to Robin's room is almost the blanket, although I used to have the exact lamp described, at least until it broke... Sad day. I kinda wish that I had her bed though... And the lamp again... Anyways, Ryu as in the very same fame of the Street Fighter series. Currently this chapter is a combination of the next chapter (unfinished) and what was originally the continuation of what became Chris' dream. In other words, the only part of this entire story I meant to be a dream was the prologue, but somehow it ended up like this, with parts altered and removed. I can't promise that there won't be any more dream-related chapters, but I can promise that the next chapter will be firmly planted in their reality!<p>

Anyways, please review! I'd really appreciate it!

Music: "Mr. Sandman" by The Chordettes. Is there a better song, perhaps, but I think this one will do just as fine. I don't want to leave the impression that I half-assed this decision, because I spent the better part of two hours listening to music and searching through lyrics to find it. Other top contenders were "Temptation", by Cradle of Filth, and "Don't Wake Me", by Skillet. Do you think I made the right choice?

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	5. Carry You

Morning broke over the Burton house in a slight chill - depending on where the room was situated to the chain of elms that eventually interspersed with the distant oak - the sleepy lilac rays feeble and gray as they penetrated the windows and filtered languidly through the glass in faint golds and oranges, hitting various surfaces in various shades of copper. Overall, it was a very pretty effect, but for those unfortunate enough to be desperately clinging to the dregs of restorative slumber, the glowing dawn hours were nothing more than a cruel nemesis and a most bitter reminder of the previous night's failed efforts. On the bright side, if there was such a thing, the soft mechanic hum of brewing coffee coming from the kitchen meant that Chris was not the only person to be awake that this cheery sunrise, robbed prematurely of at least another good twenty minutes of rest. Though some part of him didn't want to move yet, the soldier shoved himself off the veteraned sofa and stretched his arms out once he was vertical; the sound of him getting up had drawn the other sorry soul out of the kitchen.

Clad still in her pajamas, one lank camisole strap threatening to hang off of her shoulder, Robin blushed as she saw Chris standing there - last night might not have been ideal, but the girl had never seen him first thing in the morning, and there was something even more fetching about the sight of his bed head than she ever could have imagined. Figuring that those pajamas should have been burned and anything else she owned like them replaced with adult onesies, his second thought at seeing her was that in knowing the teen all this time, he had never once seen her in glasses, but there she stood, ogling him in solid sable frames. Her figure might have escaped him all this time, but there was no way that he would have missed those husky rims. It wasn't exactly a tactful comment, but he could help but to blurt out something by the charming magnifiers, "When did you start wearing glasses?"

Making a sound half-way between a gulp and a cough, the teen tried to keep her tone casual, although it couldn't have been more obvious that the teen wasn't anticipating this exchange, "Six, seven years ago. I've been wearing contacts for the last five years though, so now I only wear my specs when I'm out." And thanks to dropping the last couple of her prescriptions in the toilet that very morning, she would have to wear them for the rest of the month, until the next shipment came. "I think I look like such a dork in them though... I knew I should have gotten the slimmer frames..."

Rushing out of the soldier's throat like water from the tap, his next couple of words were tumbling out one after the other before he could so much as think about what they might trigger in her mind, "That's nonsense Little Bird, you look really cute in glasses!" Realizing too late what he had said, he hastily tried to salvage the situation, although the bright pink burning across her countenance told him it was already too late for any sort of recovery, "I'm sure that your parents must have told you that a thousand times." Because he cared about her just like her parents or the nice old lady that worked at the grocery store that took an extra long time with her job just to chat with the customers.

Crestfallen like a balloon that had just had some of the air released from it, Robin had bought more of Chris' excuses than he would have expected, but that should have been a good thing. "Oh, right. Thanks." Swallowed by a stretch of awkward silence in which they just kind of stared around the gradually lightening living room, it was several moments before the girl recalled that she had been in the middle of making a fresh pot for the family once they woke up and wandered downstairs for breakfast. "You take your coffee with creamer, right?" The topic of him being up so early did cross her mind to use to break that iron curtain down, but more than the fact that it made her feel guilty for being at least partially responsible for keeping him up with her crying, it made that uncomfortable death they had hastily retreated into all the more real and unbearable.

Touched and only a smidgen shocked that she had retained a detail that had only come up between them a few times, Chris could tell that this was one of those times that she wanted to say something but was holding back, and if it was what he was thinking it was going to be, he wished that she wouldn't bring it up anyways. He hardly had known her for a year when he found that she would inevitably bubble over and spill out whatever was troubling her - that was one reason he found her crush so... well, impressive wasn't wasn't the right word for it, but it was something that she had been able to not just give the game away. At any rate, it barely took much ration to see that she felt badly about last night; shooting straight into panic mode after finding her face-down had scarcely left the time to explain that he had already been up, and if he told her that now, she would probably think that he was just making up a story to spare her feelings. While in truth it was her fault that he had been unable to rest, what worried him the most about it right now was the fact that the actual degree might come out.

Before he could stop himself, in order to circumvent the truth or even the topic itself, Chris chose to bring up another point of conversation that was closely related, but that he hoped would be enough to keep her from pursuing the issue that ultimately lead to his impulse to creep. "Yeah, thanks. By the way," he calculatingly took a few steps nearer to the teen and held himself in a position he thought to be considerate in a familial sort of way, "how's your head holding up?" He considered adding in something about her being as hard as a rock and just asking because it was right, but that might make it sound like he didn't care one way or another, and that couldn't have been farther from the truth.

Touching the place that had been cracked against the metal bar before he had come to her rescue, the combination of herbs and getting a proper rest had healed it so that there was barely any pain now, and if she were to look at it in a mirror, there likely wouldn't have been a single mark. Well, maybe just a small one, but her hair would easily have covered it, even pulled back the way she liked it. "Thanks to some quick-thinking, permanent damage was avoided." She smiled for the first time that morn, thinking of another time he had saved her with his cognitive abilities, "Chris, do you remember that day we all went to the movies, and because none of us were willing to compromise, we ended up seeing that one movie... Oh, what was it again? It was the one you kept bugging us about..." Pondering upon it for a second longer, she remembered, "Duh, the Mummy remake! It's only one of my favorite action-romance-comedies!"

Gathering why she had recalled that particular day, he remembered the movie that she had wanted to see instead, and the pouting she had tried to employ to get her way, but at the end of the day, she had had to wait to see the Phantom Menace. Actually, it had almost worked, but since her sisters were so back-and-forth about their choice, they just settled for his pick, if you could call such a good movie settling. "The kid who sold us our tickets looked at you funny for the next movie we saw too." At once he regretted saying that, because it had been he who had taken her to that following movie, and they had been alone on that trip, since Claire had had to decline the invitation at the last minute. "Little Bird?"

Vivid as the day it happened, she could still see the look of the ticket-taker as he placed her amongst his multitude of costumers; the buttery scent of popcorn, laminated paper slips, and plastic cups frothing over with sticky soda had assaulted them from the very get-go, and though the green miss could not for the life of her conjure the movie they had watched on that occasion, she could clearly revoke Chris, even down to the plaid jacket he had thrown on over his heathery t-shirt. It was faint now, but she could still even call to mind the coconut shampoo he had been trying out at the time. "...I can't say that it rings a bell." She could cite practically every last detail of that day, even the pepperoni and cheese pizza that they had shared afterwards (he had had an iced tea, and she a soda), but if she admitted to memorizing that event, somehow, it just didn't seem the proper thing to say. "Sorry."

Honestly, the revelation that she had forgotten stung him more than he would have thought for such an unimportant day between friends, but he tried not to let it show as he followed her back into the kitchen for a mug of steaming coffee - he wouldn't have expected her to retain the entire day, but even if she could have held onto one memory of it, it would have made him glad to know. But no matter, that was in the past, back when - he caught himself about to refer to her instantaneous transformation into a woman and hastened to reform that unspoken thought - back when Robin was just a lost girl grieving for her family. Though she tried to hide it, he could still see that she was still grieving the loss, but at the same time, it was even more clear that she had truly reached a place of acceptance. He wanted to say how extraordinary that child was, but in so many ways, it was becoming less and less accurate to call her a child...

Taking a seat - on Robin's firmly requested behest - at the spindly oak table, the deeply vermilion cushions tied to the matching chair set worn in the most comfortable of ways, Chris waited patiently on the side of the table that faced the multi-paned window as she went about making the coffee to their individual preferences (herself keener on the darker, stronger brews). Bustling from cupboard to fridge, the girl was too preoccupied to pay him much heed at the moment - a nice break to be sure - which left him free to glance around at the rest of the room. The fridge was one of the newest pieces of furniture in the entire estate (the one that had come with the place died the night that the four Burtons had moved in, and the current replacement was acquired shortly before Robin was), and it was decorated with bright magnets holding up pictures that Moira and Polly had drawn; the freezer was tiered with the latest report cards. Strongly stained with the lemony cleaning products employed at least every other day, there was also the lingering scent of seasonal flowers and home cooking - tonight in fact was a stew that had been marinating in a crockpot for the last two days.

Offering a portly cranberry mug imprinted with diagonal monochromatic stripes of varying thicknesses, the girl joined him at the table, taking a place a full seat away, setting down her own snowflake-themed glass to gaze out at the wispy sky. Ordinarily she would have seated herself as closely to her friend as was feasible, but there was something going on that could not be explained, something internal that was making her draw back from him, but what was it that was forcing her to act in such a manner? Sure, she was stung by the brush-off earlier, but that was hardly the first time she had found hope dashed before it could grow, so what was this feeling, and why did it make her lie and say that she didn't remember a day that was just a fresh as this moment now? Only anger made sense, but what did she have to be mad about?

Confused as the female herself at the placement of their bodies, some part of him was glad that she wasn't right on top of him, hand skimming the surface of his own for whatever reason besides mere proximity, but a considerably larger part of himself realized then that he had been counting on her for that excuse of contact. As he feared, the night had brought along unconscious thoughts that far surpassed the acceptable boundaries between them, yet while that had somewhat cooled the thoughts of seeing her working on that jeep, there was a dull ache that yearned to be filled by her presence, by even the slightest innocent touch. Why did he have to be hounded by that hunger?!

What was worse than that inexplicable thought of slating the nigh unthinkable itch was that if he were to give in to the almost overwhelming whim, Robin would fold and welcome that road of ruin, completely unaware of where the destruction would lead to as she embraced the trip. He had to be the learned adult and responsible friend and protect them both from that intoxicating decay, because not only did he not want to jeopardize that many friendships in even just one single slip-up, but Chris also was loath to the idea of losing his current relationship with Robin. It was bad enough to damage that bond he had with Jill, but to repeat that same mistake in such a close order was essentially the definition of living in hell. Man, Chris really needed more guy friends...!

"I just realized..." Grabbing her coffee and taking a prolonged sip, the girl sounded far away, lost in her own inner turmoil, "I'll be a senior this year, and out of everyone that has asked me what I wanted to do after that, you haven't once inquired as to what I was planning. At first I thought that you were just making assumptions because you know me so well, but then I wondered if maybe you didn't care..." Blinking, she fixed him with a sideways stare, "But that isn't right, because you do care, I know that you care about all of us, so then I started to think that maybe you were just afraid to hear my answer for yourself."

Hitting the nail straight on the proverbial head, Chris wondered how long exactly she had taken to reach that conclusion, if it had haunted her for months or if she had figured him out in a matter of seconds. Either way, even before this newfound attraction to the young woman, Chris had been dreading her to come back with two very specific answers, each worse than the last. "Claire had such an impact on Sherry Birkin, my sister told me that the girl had already resolved to follow in her footsteps. Don't get me wrong, we all do important work, but this isn't the life a child should want." He didn't have to tell her how important that work was though, because Rebecca had been Robin's Claire; what would have been worse to hear, however, was that no one had influenced Robin, and that she wanted to just drift about to make up her mind. The thought of Robin - of any civilian - getting caught up in the mess that the Umbrella Corporation had made was truly too much.

Honestly, following in Chris and everyone else's footsteps had been something she had heavily considered, but perhaps the biggest deterrent to that was her younger sisters - Robin loved those girls as much as she had loved her blood, and more than anything else, she wanted to ensure their safety. Everyone was already doing so much of that out on the front lines, and there were other ways to keep them alive and out of harms way, so it made sense that she could do her part to give them a good example by living an ordinary life. And, there were other reasons that the older sibling didn't want to help people by putting her own life on the line; as much as she loved Chris and was thankful to the others, Robin was her own person, and that meant that her place was elsewhere. "I want to help people, and I want to leave a good impression for Moira and Polly, but I want to do it in my own way. I don't know what that is yet, but I was thinking about starting out by becoming a personal trainer. You know how physical I am, and by doing that I would be helping people, so I figured that that's as good a place as any to start."

A personal trainer was the last answer Chris would have expected to come out of her lips, but besides making a world of sense for her and her lifestyle, it was another weight off of his shoulders, because if she was busy doing that, she would be fine. Granted it might have been nice knowing that there was another capable soul out there doing their part ensure the good of the planet, he could have kissed her for deciding to take up an occupation that distanced her from his world. Could being the optimal word, as if he had acted on that inclination he likely would have upset the drink making its way to her mouth, and even with the coffee aside, if he had made such a sudden movement he didn't trust himself not to capitalize on it and go straight for a path that would have ended up badly.

Seizing the moment to share in what would eventually be another half-remembered yet fond memory, Chris grinned; had their closeness permitted he would have clapped her on the back, but as that was not an option - again he had to wonder why she had chosen to sit so far away - he simply smiled in relief. At least this meant one more problem gone! "Good for you, Little Bird! Any ideas yet what schools you'll look into? Claire went to a community college, but she had a good education nonetheless, so you could still stay here with your family and save up for later. Speaking of, how's that part-time job working at the diner?"

Glad to be talking animatedly, Robin returned the infectious smile, "My boss is as demanding as ever - I have the late shift starting next month, although he says he'll allow me to juggle that a bit once school starts again. And Drake is being even more annoying than usual," Drake was not only the boss's nephew, but he was the most popular guy at her school, which meant that his friends would frequently make that much more work for her, and she had to pick up his slack to boot, "but as far as schools go, I was actually thinking about Ivy University. It's pretty far from here though, so I'm not sure yet." Seriously, a school far away from the family would be nice in a sense, so then maybe she could try to get over Chris, but the idea of leaving the safety she had come to know so well was frightening. "Maybe if I was away from here, I could prove to you that I'm grown up and capable of making my own decisions." She caught herself, "You guys, I mean."

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><p>Author's Note: Ivy University, a good ten years before a certain incident, if you catch my meaning. But seriously, I believe that they state that Claire was a college student, but they never say if she graduated or not. Being Claire I imagine that she did, but confirmation would be nice. I dunno, maybe that's just me.<p>

Anyways, please review! I'd really appreciate it!

Music: "Carry You", by Union J. Perhaps it doesn't ring well with the entire chapter, but I feel as if the essence of that song resonates well with the heart of the chapter! And yes, maybe I have been watching too much Youtube.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	6. Dreaming Of You

About to reply to her last statement, though admittedly unsure of the exact words he would have used, Chris was saved from that potential minefield by the stealthy arrival of Claire; it was a good thing that at that moment he and Robin were so far apart and not caught in one of these new moments that seemed so suspect, or else there might be some serious questions risen. Out of curiosity, if anything had been happening between himself and Robin, what would Claire's reaction have been? Would she play it cool and call him aside for a stern talking to, or would she have viewed them both as consenting individuals and chewed them both out for doing that to Barry, and worse under his own roof behind his back? Knowing his sister, it would have been the later. Either way, her appearance in the kitchen was welcome at this time.

Beaming at the older woman as she stepped into view with a simper of her own, Robin jumped up with a thud of the knee and ushered the guest into a seat of her own, inquiring as to how she wanted her coffee, "Morning Claire! How'd you want your morning poison? Black, creamer, sugar? Or maybe something else? Milk, oj, tea, water?" Raised a good hostess the teen was more than used to serving those around her, so it was almost second nature to spring up and begin to dig around the cupboards for another mug, "How'd you sleep? Good I hope."

Claire nodded as she made herself comfortable at the table, sitting down opposite Chris as she stifled a yawn, "Mmmhhh...morning. Thanks Robin, I think I'll have it with creamer and sugar to start with..." Looking at the disapproving scowl on her brother's face, the redhead elaborated, "I had a hard time falling asleep last night." Like the champ her brother trained her to be, she had overcome nearly all traces of the trauma from three years ago, except for one: the ghost of Steve Burnside. That boy... Even after all this time, she had not been able to let go of his memory, of his love... "What about you two? I heard Robin tip-toeing back to her room rather late last night, and there's only one person staying downstairs."

Daring to believe that that conversation and the embarrassment that accompanied it had died on the staircase between Chris and herself, the last thing Robin wanted to hear was that someone else had been a party to that scene, no matter how insignificant their part. It was a night to forget by all standards, and the fact that it was refusing to leave only made the girl feel that much more ashamed, a crimson creeping across her cheeks to display that fact to the room at large. For his part Chris just wanted to deny everything, but that escape route seemed highly unlikely as Claire already knew that they had spent a larger chunk of the night together, although not in the way that his sibling was thinking.

Every sign displayed at Claire's inquisition only helped to lend to the idea that the duo had been up together until just before the wee hours, unsupervised and apparently a shade more intimate than either should have been; the redhead had warned her brother on countless occasions to heed how he handled things with Robin. Yes, that girl did have it bad for Chris, but she could easily see that it was stronger than some teenage romance - honestly, if one were to set all the cons aside, they would have made a lot of sense as a couple. But that wasn't the only reason that the femme fatale had slapped manacles to her brother, so to speak; Chris really did care a great deal about Jill, but he had rushed into battle without the slightest amount of preparation, and as his family she didn't want to see him make the same mistakes again. Like any good sister, she just wanted her big brother to be happy, and if that meant him taking up with some girl that wasn't even a senior in high school yet (which if that ever did become a thing, it was going to be a hard pill to swallow, so she sincerely hoped for everyone's sakes that they had the sense to wait for the appropriate time to act), it was up to her to help him out.

Good a hostess as the bespectacled girl was (wait a minute, she wasn't wearing those glasses yesterday!), the elder female would have preferred her brother to go for someone else, someone more like Jill, but since that wasn't likely to happen anytime ever, Claire supposed that Robin was a much better option than what could have been. It wasn't that she had anything in particular against the kid, but even after three years, it still felt as if she could have known her better; it was easy enough to see how the girl's heart bled for Chris, for her family, but the teen rarely spoke of her biological family, or even of friends outside the family circle. She probably did have one or two people she could confide in that weren't the survivors of some incident or other, but if they existed Claire had never heard any names before today; although in fairness to the teen, neither female interacted much with the other, so Chris' so-called "Little Bird" really only knew Claire through what she had heard. Maybe - and this decision had little to nothing to do with Chris - it would be nice for the pair of them to spend some time together, without everyone else getting in the way.

For now though - at least until a time that the subject could be broached and a plan formulated - the three of them would have to settle for what they currently had; the two of them suffering with the truth of what they had already gone through and Claire making assumptions from what she thought she knew. Presumptions that would be proven correct, so long as neither said anything to the contrary. "There are a lot of rooms downstairs, what makes you so sure that I had been talking to Chris?" Silence might have been the golden ticket, but one of the party could not keep their tongue buttoned, the damned fool. "I could have been getting a late night snack, or maybe I had to get new batteries for my... radio..."

Hardly believing for a moment that there was a real radio in need of a battery change that late at night, Claire took a skeptical sip from the solid puce jug that she had been handed. Did the child really think that she could get away with trying to pull the wool over her eyes? Honestly, it seemed as if she had something to hide from that maneuver, "Well for one thing Chris is your closest friend," it had been tempting to insinuate something about that rather obvious attraction between the two, or to even bring up that Robin seldom spoke of school friends, but Claire figured that now wasn't the best time to press either point, "and for another, I could tell you were standing at the top of the staircase for a long while before actually going back to your room."

"I...I wasn't... I didn't... I..." Stammering, Robin's cheeks were about to hit tints of red that hadn't been invented yet. Having Chris finding her in the bathroom last night had been bad enough, but for him to hear that after stomping back upstairs she had stopped just out of his sight and was staring down at the last place she had seen him, to know that she had been pining for a scenario that could only happen in a dream?! That was pure, unadulterated anguish! Turning her back to the siblings as she began to fuss around with random items on the counter to appear busy, the girl tried again, "I was just making sure that enough time had passed before going back to bed. It was just one of those 'wait 30 minutes after eating' kind of things. That was all."

Judging her remark to mean more than the head injury, Chris was forced to wonder for a moment how much of his dreams were just figments of his subconscious at work, and how much of the events had been real - obviously the parts concerning heavy necking were all fake, but how much of the trust and hurt in her eyes had been authentic? Craning his head to get a better view of his friend's back as she merely picked up arbitrary items and shook them around before putting them back in place (he couldn't see her doing it, but it was rather obvious that she was shifting aimlessly), Chris found himself once more speaking before he knew what was going to spill out. "Someone's being nosy this morning, Claire. If you really have to know so bad what happened, I can paint you a picture, but it won't be pretty..." Trailing off only for effect, he figured that it wouldn't hurt to jokingly brush it off. "Last night - after fighting off this inevitable outcome - we broke out into a full musical moment, dancing showgirls and all."

Keeping up with the malarky, the teen was quick to draw her discomfort as far inwards as possible as she performed a pretty pirouette in place, pleased that she could hide the remainder of her pain in the impromptu play, although the aspiring ballerina inside did wish that her voice would have been as up to par as her moves. "Late at night when all the world is sleeping, I stay up and think of you. And I wish on a star, that somewhere you are thinking of me too." Spinning around and around on the ball of her foot, Robin was already regretting the decision to showcase the dance that never was, as doing this so soon in the day without warming up was as far from a good idea as just jumping on Chris at this moment, "Cause I'm dreaming of you tonight. 'Til tomorrow, I'll be holding you tight, and there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than here in my room dreaming about you and me."

Listening to harder music in general, it was a very dicey gamble to bet that Chris would know the rest of it, but he took them all by surprise by picking up exactly where the music would have, had it actually been playing, "Wonder if you ever see me, and I wonder if you know I'm there. If you looked in my eyes, would you see what's inside? Would you even care?" While the girls mused mutely that there wasn't a single gifted musician amongst them, he thought to himself that this part would have been more suited for Robin to have sung, since it rung closely to what she had been saying as of late. "I just want to hold you close, but so far, all I have are dreams of you. So I wait for the day, and the courage to say  
>how much I love you," Robin, without invitation or cue, gently crooned out this next line as well, "Yes I do."<p>

Mayhap there was a more clever way to get their point across that didn't risk antagonizing the feelings warring inside, but either way Claire received the message, "Ok, I get it." Throwing her hands up in surrender, the vivacious vixen shook her auburn locks with a knowing smirk, "You two spent the entire night rehearsing a famously intimate love song to prove that you weren't up to anything you shouldn't be doing." Fine, they could keep their secrets, but that didn't mean that she was just going to give them that without having a little fun at their expense first. "Because that's obviously what two best friends of the opposite gender stay up doing late at night."

Naming the other woman everything under the sun in her mind, it took untold strength for Robin to hold the floodgates closed and bite her tongue; Chris, on the other hand, was now just as visibly vexed as his cohort and was also choking back innumerable rebuttals. How could they not have seen that one coming?! And more perplexing was how he had blindly followed in the lead of a selection that was off the cuff and not thought out in the slightest! Extremely disquieted by this unfortunate turn of events, Robin slowly fell back into her everyday stance (angled perpetually with one hip jutting out), thinking of some way to salvage the situation that might save face without exacerbating the redhead's argument. Surely there must have been some way to shutdown her speculations?

Opening and closing her mouth like a beached fish gasping desperately for air, the girl came up empty-handed for a sure answer, but she couldn't just take this ribbing sitting down! "Whatever did or didn't happen last night is between the two of us. Just the two of us. So if there was any kind of talking, it was an A and B conversation, so you can kindly C your way out. Not that there was any talking." Gazing at the teen, the two Redfield siblings wondered if it was hard to insert your own foot into your mouth without the use of your knees or ankles, because that was exactly what Robin had done. Catching the underlying sexual connotations of that statement just a moment too late - and egged on by the ever-expanding grin on Claire's face - she hurried to repair the damage, not aware that she was only about to make it that much worse. "I'm not saying that it was anything physical though, because we'd have to be some kind of stupid to do anything like that when my father is right upstairs. And anyways-"

Perusing the scene before him in full parental mode, ears automatically tuning towards the commotion coming from the kitchen as he pushed through the house with speed that could put a cheetah to shame, Barry burst into the silver suit like a madman on free hatchet day. He was practically foaming at the mouth as he cleared the door and rooted himself firmly between his daughter and the only other male presence in the vicinity, "'And anyways' what?" Thankfully for the two of them, all Barry had really heard was the words 'my father is right upstairs' and beyond; just in this one instance, Claire mattered very little. "Robin, what are you talking about?" He stared from her to Chris, positive that whatever it was, he was somehow involved - putting aside that horrendous nightmare, the teen was after all a known friend of the adult, so it wouldn't be unheard of for them to conspire. At a loss for what to say, the younger of the two men didn't reply and instead took a deliberately long drink of his coffee, almost scalding his tongue from the sheer volume of the warm liquid. Hopeful that someone would answer his question, the father of three gazed over to the redhead, "Claire, what is going on here?"

Quietness ringing like the most telling of snitches, the three of the them exchanged prolonged glances, trying to confirm nonverbally which of them would have to be the unlucky one that would have to bear the guilt later of lying to a man that the trio all viewed as a father-figure. Aware that they didn't have long to stall, Claire went to take this one for the team, "I guess there's no point hiding it now - Chris and Robin were just telling me that they stayed up late last night trying to plan a nice little vacation for you and Kathy. They couldn't agree on a place, but they agree that it should be the nicest, most expensive anniversary you two would ever have. Isn't that right?" She was the one that had to tell the lie, so the redhead couldn't help it if that was the first thing that came to mind.

"Right," forcing a smile through gritted teeth, Robin nodded at Claire - though she was eternally grateful for that save and would have to find a way to thank the other woman, the bird was raving mad for having to dip into her college fund even further - turning back and forth to address her as well as her dad, "I was just saying that it was incredibly stupid of me, of us really, to be talking about this when we might be overheard. The 'anyways' was just me trying to stress how much I was looking forward to giving you guys this little treat no matter what." Actually, the 'anyways' was going to be something hurtful along the lines of Chris never wanting anything do with her in that way, but at least this way she didn't have to voice that out loud...

Satisfied by that answer, more than satisfied truth be told, Barry relaxed considerably as he took his preferred place at the head of the table, but not before kissing the zenith of the obsidian labyrinth that was his ward's unbrushed locks and heartily shaking his old partner's hand. An all-expenses paid second honeymoon, just him and the missus, no kids, no responsibilities! That was just what he needed to make up for the monotonous grind that was work! Lobbing thanks like grenades on the battlefield, Barry was so overjoyed that between all the gushing gratitude and sworn secrecy (he was seemingly determined that at least one of them should still be surprised), he had completely missed the subtle slump in Robin's shoulders. Claire - who was so going to pay for this - was offering small congratulations while shooting her sibling apologetic faces; Chris would never think twice about canceling this (if anyone deserved a reward it was certainly the Burton family for basically being the hub and glue of their circle of friends) but because the teen was saving like it would go out of style, the brunt of the paycheck would fall upon him. From where he was sitting, a little warning would have been nice, but it was impossible, thanks to the girl that had turned away from the table to try and hold back yet more tears.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Yes I am aware that 'F' comes before 'G' in the alphabet, but I really liked that transition, so if I had played it strictly in order, I would have had to lose it, or really mess with the flow, so I had to write it out this way. Originally I had Robin and Chris singing "Graduation (Friends Forever)" by Vitamin C, but that song came out in... Mother Vader! Dammit, I just realized that I spent a whole hour trying to find a song written in or before 1999, when the story is currently taking place in 20012002 (months and all). Well Chuck-a-luck, I worked this hard to find the song, and since it works better in the sense that it furthers the plot and gives them something else to deepen the bond, I'm sticking with it!

Anyways, please review! I'd really appreciate it!

Music: "Dreaming of You", by Selena. Like I said above, it fits better lyrically, and it helped me think of what else to throw their way, so there. Plus it's just a gorgeous song.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	7. I Never Told You

Yearning to reach out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder Chris mutely watched the teen's silhouette, once more back in that place before the nameless lust, back to when she was just a friend, just any other person in pain. Oh, how he longed to stand up and extend that hand to the pinnacle of her arm, to ask what was ailing that sweet heart, what stole that beautiful smile, to do whatever was in his power to right the wrong, to put the light back in her stormy gray eyes. Watching uselessly from the table as she stood by the counter, he wanted so badly to inquire, and yet he thought that he might already know the answer - he was her problem. She never said it out loud, but it was the worst kept secret of the millennium that she had feelings for him; this whole morning had only made the previous night that much harder to accept, and yet at every corner, there was some reminder of what could never be, a taunting sign of what they would never be able to share.

If by some miracle they could hold back long enough for the age gap to vanish, for her to be an age where no one would look at them funny or accuse him of cradle robbing, that would only have been remedy enough for one of the two major problems currently overshadowing the unspoken predicament. Barry - his best male friend and her father - would never bless what was tantamount to backstabbing (why should he pardon such a grievous offense?), and inevitably, over time, that separation would drive a wedge between them until resent was all that was left of what was once such a wonderful friendship. Not only would losing that bond they shared be utterly insurmountable, he knew from his experiences with Jill that the relationship could suffer in other ways if sex was introduced into the picture. Robin and Barry both meant more to him that risking all of that, and yet... Aphrodisia aside, that girl really did mean enough to the solider to drop the big 'L' word (not lesbian), but in a platonic sort of way. At least, it had been platonic, up until he finally caught on that she was a woman.

"Black with a shot of orange juice, just how you like it daddy," Mixing up a sovereign half-cup in a crystalline-blue glass alongside a stony castle-like mug, the broken birdy handed bearded Barry what she knew to be his favorite morning drink combination, her voice trembling slightly with the effort to keep it steady, "and if you'll wait a minute for me to go down to the pantry, I can get you some honey for the coffee." Chris could clearly see that she was just using that as an excuse to get away so she could better collect herself, but the others seemed oblivious to that fact. A part of him wanted to follow after her, but he had the hunch that that encounter would end in one of two ways: either she would see him and just cry harder and louder than ever, or else somehow they would end up locked in a tangled embrace that couldn't be explained away as easily as Claire's save. "Excuse me."

Optioning to stay in place, the soldier contented himself to finishing off his own cup and exchanging false progress reports about an idea he claimed to have originated from Robin, which was naturally based off a passing comment Claire had made. Though his mind followed after the girl and wandered back out of the rectangular archway and down the handsomely decorated hall to the cramped, sparsely lit space bursting to the brim with extra inventory, the greener of the two men was startled by the feminine figure that had poked up at the back door. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to see that familiar face, but like everyone else at the table, he had been under the impression that the owner of the gorgeous countenance had been spending her break with another friend. Rapping smartly on the back door both as good manners and to prove to the three individuals ogling her in stunned disbelief that she was really there, Jill Valentine herself smiled in through the windowpane, her traveling companion waving just a short distance behind.

Always glad to see Jill (the virile vamp known as Carlos Oliveira less so), the assembly of three proceeded to warmly greet the unexpected visitors - yes even Carlos - after the younger of the two Redfields had received a nod of permission to rise and let them inside. Being his house, it would have made the most sense for Barry himself to answer the door, but between just sitting down at the table and being the eldest and furthest from the exit/entrance, he still had a difficult time facing Jill after everything that had happened at the mansion. On numerous occasions the kindly brunette had tried to convey to the father that she understood why he had done what he did and that there were no hard feelings, however the man still had yet to forgive himself for putting the lives of his friends on the line. As far as Carlos and Barry were concerned, they were all good, but the younger gentleman was known to flirt, and having three daughters and a wife made him weary of what might happen. Claire, on the hand, was the fastest on the uptake and so she had moved to act in the master of the house's stead; though she had been on the receiving end of some mild come-ons, the biggest thing that the redhead had against Carlos was that he - much like Robin to some degree - was one of the biggest obstacles keeping Jill and Chris from giving it another shot. Maybe if she had known the teen a bit better she wouldn't have been so fond of the idea of Jill as her future potential in-law.

"Morning all!" Shaking hands with the other woman, Jill beamed as she gazed around the kitchen, recalling at least a dozen different memories that had happened in that part of the house alone. "Sorry for calling so early, but Carlos and I just came back from visiting with some of his old friends sooner than expected, so our time is still a bit off." Grinning back over her shoulder at her companion, the shadow of some kind of shared experience shooting between them, the female took a seat on the same side of the table that displayed the glorious morning stretching on for forever, "We hope you guys don't mind that this one tagged along. With our schedules it's difficult to find the time to see each other," Jill's pale blue eyes darted straight to Chris at these words, boring holes through him as the atmosphere chilled considerably. No matter how many times they had the same conversation, Chris somehow always failed to see that there was more to what ruined them than just taking the next step in their friendship; maybe he just refused to acknowledge it, or maybe he just really didn't notice, but after they had started to date - if you could call it that - he began to shut himself off from her. At first she thought that he was just trying to focus on their goals, but then he started to accept more and more jobs, and it was a only a matter of time before the disconnect became unbearable. No matter what she would always love Chris, but at this stage in his life, he just wasn't the right person for her. Carlos on the other hand... Well it was looking rather promising. Smiling from deep within at that thought, Jill inquired, "So, how is everyone?"

Rambling off the reports of his family's status while Claire also filled Jill in on what she had missed since the last time they had seen each other, Carlos lingered by his partner's elbow, spotting the extra cup of joe that had belonged to Robin before she had stepped out of the room. Sliding up closer to Chris but not taking a seat of his own, the dashing man whose accent drives all the foxy ladies crazy indicated the mug depicting a blizzard of glittering white snowflakes, "Whose cup is that?" Not particularly in the mood for coffee and smarter than to just drink from some random cup he found laying around, Carlos was merely curious to know who else was also up at this hour.

Vaguely aware that there was something deeper going on between the active freelance mercenary and his partner - there would always be a part of him that loved Jill and would do anything for her, but Chris knew that things were better this way, that she was happier than she had ever been with him - the soldier's steady gaze flickered over to where the brunette was sitting, but instead of the woman, he saw the girl that had been lost in contemplation some fifteen minutes ago. Perhaps there was some kind of sign or beautiful irony about the two woman he cared most for (that weren't blood relatives) choosing not the same stool but the space that was so close and yet so far, or maybe it was coincidence, but either way all it served to do was solidify the gravity of the situation. As if he needed yet another reminder! Curt as could be, Chris jerked his head away from the location of wonderment and gruffly replied into his cup who it had been sitting in that spot first, before company had arrived.

As one of those select handful that had escaped from the cleansing of Raccoon City in the same helicopter flown by the same pilot, Carlos was in fact one of the few that had known the teen longest, and as a genuinely concerned figure, he had kept in contact with the girl all throughout the past couple of years it took them all to recover from the trauma. As such, Carlos was one of the select that truly understood how deeply her affections had latched to Chris; he himself had lost a great amount during his lifetime, so he fully could comprehend how and why she had clung to one person in particular. The fact that her trust and attachment had turned into an emotion that strongly resembled love - if it wasn't the real deal - was a point that the merc hadn't counted on, but for a while he was simultaneously jealous of that bond and pitied her for it; before he and his own lady had reached this place they were floating near, he wasn't sure if he would ever find it, but he had; as for the empathy he had thought that her feelings would die alone, unrequited. At least he had thought that, up until recently when Jill had slipped into the conversation that Chris had been spending an inordinate amount of time talking about his new best friend, making plans to go and visit her family the first time an opportunity arose. In itself that wasn't entirely telling, but given all the previous details, just now when Chris's eyes had lingered on Jill but stared so far away, it was obvious in the soldier's voice that the other man cared a great deal about why Carlos wanted to know. Conceivably it wasn't as developed as much more than an idea in Chris' head, but there was undeniably something more to that friendship than simple friendliness.

Torn between listening to Claire and Barry filling in the gaps of time they had spent apart and Carlos making an inquiry of Chris, Jill heard the same exact tone in her ex that her new man did, although unlike Carlos who fancied himself to be as much of a lover as a fighter, she wasn't going to chime in. Not yet at any rate. A real tomboy at heart, Robin was weary of any female older than herself (even Rebecca, who only had four years on the child), but the operative for good had spent enough time around the girl and listening to what others had to say to get a feel for her, and she could tell that kid was good people. Was there something a bit off about her, of course, but since her biggest problem appeared to be an attraction to older men, there was no need for immediate concern. On that note however, there was probably need to worry about what Carlos was planning as he furthered his investigation by asking where she had gone to, and once he had that protective yet tartly delivered answer, querying aloud if she needed any help. Jill knew that it was more to challenge Chris into realizing the extent of the feelings between himself and the girl than anything else, but she also knew her partner, so she could tell that it would probably work, but not in the way that Carlos had been hoping for. Sighing to herself all she did was shake her head as he left the kitchen to offer a helping hand, because she had warned him more than once not to interfere and to just let nature take its course - she wanted Chris to find his own happiness with the right woman, and if they interfered too much, they might never know if Chris was meant to be with Robin or not.

"Any civilians in need of assistance?" Exiting the kitchen/dining room combo with a bright outlook despite the time, completely unaware of what he was about to find, Carlos jokingly called out to the hallway as he poked around for the pantry (direction given by Claire as she noticed his departure). Stopping short of the halfway point, the merc stalled as he overheard a most troubling noise emanating from the fathomless contents of a portal left ajar, the flickering overhead light casting the quivering pantomime of a huddled-up human holding themselves for dear life on the waxy floor. Thankfully for her own sake, Robin had pretty much cried herself out the previous night, but that didn't stop the convulsing that came with her dry sobs, or even the sorrow that was blanketing her like the surface of the sun. Hazarding the cause of this escape to be what her head told her the heart would never have, the unexpectedly warmhearted killer stepped into the closet and pulled the teen into a comforting hug, not troubled in the slightest about anyone's reaction to such an amicable act. "Shh, it'll be alright. Just let it out, let it all out."

Thinking first and foremost with his heart, Robin thought to herself as she registered whose arms it was wrapping around her shoulders, the unwarranted compassion pulling her closer to the light, the teen moodily reflected that he should have used to head to realize that besides being who she was, the girl was the sort that would have lashed out and pushed him away under ordinary circumstances. As it was this was an off moment for her, and strangely this sort of embrace was just the spark needed to kick her back to her senses, so instead of doing what she might normally do - which would have included some very handy defensive maneuvers taught to her by both friends and family alike - the teen welcomed this show of reassurance. Hell, she even returned the gesture after a second or two of momentarily just standing there, frozen in a dumbstruck position. The hired-hitter wasn't her closest chum, but Carlos was still a good buddy - that was why she got so annoyed with the others for the lukewarm reception. Not an idiot, Robin was adequately acquainted with what everyone felt and expressed about the infamous flirt, and yet it never even crossed her mind that this was anything more than what it seemed at the surface, because the avian with the shattered wings knew the kind of man that he was, and that when he was with a woman, he was really with her and no one else.

Nearly begrudging that that sort of bond was so close to her but had no part in her own life - not in the capacity she coveted - she really did truly envy Jill, viewing her to be a lucky woman to be as loved as throughly as she was, although being as good a person as she was and doing what she did for a living, the brunette more than deserved it. Did she deserve Chris? In all actuality she probably did earn the right to be the one standing by Chris' side, assuming that that was who she ultimately desired, but it was hard for the girl to admit that to herself. Although coming to honestly accept that fact would have been worlds less strenuous than having to face what happened next...

Deciding on his own accord that it was taking longer than it should have been for Robin to come back with something as compact as a container of honey, and clearly less than thrilled that Carlos had been the one to go after the teen, who should have gone after the pair a handful of milliseconds later than Chris himself? Jill was more than capable of protecting herself, but Robin was still just a kid, so any jokester with the right words and a way in could have twisted her all around until she didn't know what was up and what was down. So naturally as a friend to both parent and child, it was Chris' duty to intervene and prevent the girl from making a horrible mistake that could ruin the rest of her life - if only he had departed just a second sooner...

"What's this?!" Door knocked wide open from the mercenary's sudden intrusion and pushed open to the limit from the overflow of body mass, all Chris had to do to see the taller figure fondling the shorter was turn a corner; ten-inch rusted nails boring into his throat, all it took to see that the cuddling was consensual was her limbs entwined with his. "Robin...?" Broken, disappointed, and defeated to see that she was finding solace in the clutches of another, the man's voice betrayed so much more than the man ever would have on his own volition, "Little Bird?" As inevitable as it was natural that she would finally yield to enticing advances, the distress he felt having witnessed that most dreaded moment was indescribably excruciating.

How could she have been so stupid as to let this happen?! Of course it would manifest and fester when looked at from the outside in - especially since it was a well established fact that she was normally such a guarded shell - and even though he could never see it through the eyes of a jealous would-be lover, to behold the progeny of a pal in a pose like this... Why did it have to be her fate to put herself in these positions that would have kept killing any chances she might have had, assuming that she was in some alternate reality where there was some slim probability that could see the teen with her living heart? Chris must have been devastated to be put in the middle, to have to be the one to tell her father - one of his closest friends - and his partner that she had just been caught in the closet with the brunette's boyfriend.

Although, admittedly there was one fleeting moment when she peered into the subaqueous depths of those wounded sepia eyes and saw more than the pressing responsibilities of a good friend; surely she must have been crazy and out of her mind with panic to think it though, because the sentiment that that somber expression gleamed was impossible. Chris was her dearest companion, her most trusted confident, and this whole weekend visit was just putting her under extreme duress - that had to be it, because to labor under the delusion that she had seen anything more than platonic love was insane! And yet even aggressively asserting the internal idea that she was gradually going mad, Robin couldn't shake the conscience-consuming feeling that Chris was nothing short of disheartened by the spellbinding scene before him, more morose and melancholy than dumbfounded. Given their situation, everything else he was feeling made perfect sense, but why then would he be feeling so woebegone?

Destined for the asylum or not - and at that minute the song-less non-feathered was almost seriously convinced that that was the proper place to be - Robin was utterly absolute that there was something buried deep within her friend's words, but more than even that, she knew that she had talk to Chris, to explain that it wasn't what it seemed. The girl could only hope that she wouldn't have to resort to confiding the entire truth - which basically boiled down to the roots that she had strong feelings for the soldier - but if it was the only way to salvage things, the teen would confess a dozen times over. "Chris! This isn't what it looks like! I can explain-"

Explain? There was no explaining any of this, not now. Turing his back to the two bodies that had since sprung apart as if stung by some kind of monster wasp, Chris couldn't bear to envision the piercing stare her silver bullets were boring into the back of his head; the limitless profundity had burned him before, but this time the man was determined not to suffer their crystalline contents. Pitiful and frightened as a newborn orphaned amidst the raging inferno, her tremulous and tender tone told him all that he needed to hear and more, and yet it still wasn't good enough to assuage all of the shock and suffering coursing through his very veins. No, there was nothing that could be said right now.

Unable to look at her and even less inclined to listen to anything the teen had to say because there was just so much going on inside his head at that time, the soldier spun around on his heel and stalked off, needing to put as much distance between himself and Robin as he possibly could. Robin was right there before him - she had always been right there - already taking the first few baby steps that would eventually lead her towards the next guy, nay, the first guy that would just ignore all of the surrounding circumstances and take her for his own. It wasn't like the thought hadn't crossed his mind this weekend, because in fact it had been the unwelcome shadow stalking the crevices of his mind; fighting what felt to be only a losing battle, the soldier was caught in the malicious web of selfish desire and awaiting agony. Torn further and further as the vacation only ticked on second by grueling second, Chris Redfield found himself struggling more than ever before over being a good and responsible friend and just this once claiming something marvelous that he coveted for himself. If it wasn't too late yet, if he could only just let go and allowed himself this one joy, then just maybe... No, he knew that he should even humor that chain of thought at the time being, everything might be lost forever more... He shouldn't even tempt himself with the promise and prayer of what could happen - he needed air, a space away from everything to think clearly.

Removing himself from that heavy cloud so the soldier could attempt to assemble all of his pieces before he completely cracked, his sudden departure left the younger two standing there in the middle of the hall, shapes lining closer to the framed walls than the mostly obscured pathway. While Carlos watched his brilliant plan collapsing into rubble (although the dashing merc saw this as a set back that would only strengthen them over time, he was not giving up on them just yet), all Robin could do was stand there as Chris stormed off, useless and aching that she had caused him such an inconvenience. Cursing herself this outcome, the girl had to wonder as witnessed what felt like the end if she wasn't truly a voodoo doll whose sole purpose was the unending torment of Chris Redfield.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: As in even if Chris and Robin did ever get together, there would be no knowing if they had altered the situation so she seemed like the right choice, or if they were just destined to be. For the record, I wrote the civilian line in because in both Nemesis and the Umbrella Chronicles Carlos initially (and (arguably) incorrectly) identifies Jill as such. So in other words, it was a shot for accuracy as well as an homage to the third game. Anyways, not a whole lot I really have to say about this chapter.<p>

Anyways, please review! I'd really appreciate it!

Music: "I Never Told You", by Colbie Caillat. She's not an artist I'm very familiar with, but on some level this song really zinged for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	8. Wasteland

"Robbie, are you sure you don't want to come down to the river with us?" Absorbing the sunscreen her mother had just slathered over the parts of her body that weren't covered by a bubblegum-pink one piece, Polly stood outside of her sister's door, only partially phased by being locked out of the older girl's room. "It'll be fun! Mommy and daddy are preparing stuff for a big ol' picnic later, and Jill's helping Carlos set up a special surprise for way later." Moira and Claire were busy in the kitchen too, both females last seen in the midst of a debate about what would win in a race between an otter and a cat that had been specifically bred for aquatics. "At this rate you'll be the only person in the world that would stay inside on such a beautiful day!" Tsking in disappointment that her sibling would want to waste such a nice afternoon couped up in her room, the child only had one more thing to inquire of the teen before she rejoined the others downstairs, "You've been mopey all morning, what happened to you? Why don't you want to spend time with our friends? You always love coming out to play with us, so what makes today any different?"

Receiving no answer from the added weight on the locked door, not even after a considerable courtesy pause, little Polly (or Poe as her siblings sometimes dubbed her) shrugged off the lost cause and left Robin to sulk as she squandered the sunshine and ensured laughter. Maybe if the girl was just a little bit older and a tad less excited about the day to come, she might have tried harder to find out what was bothering her sister, but being that neither condition was in her favor, the nine year old scampered off without another sensible word. Polly and Moira both loved their new sister as if she had always been present in their lives, but it wasn't very often that the girls had a day to frolic about like this, since the adults would only be able to stay for so long and often didn't have a spare change of clothes to wear after taking a dip in the winding river. Plus they almost never seemed to be able to get their old man out so far as the water, since he was usually very busy with his work. Today was going to be the best day ever - no exaggeration - and it was a real shame that she was choosing to miss it! Hmph, Poe crossed her arms sternly as she descended the stairs and almost collided with Ira, Robin was almost as bad as Chris!

Promising to be a prelude of things to come, breakfast that morning had started out as a cheery affair brimming over the top with full-bellied mirth; Jill and Carlos had unexpectedly stopped by to visit for at least the remainder of the day, Barry seemed about to burst with glee, and Claire and Kathy were warmly exchanging gossip about the going-ons of absent friends. Carlos seemed a bit weary of something concerning Chris, judging solely from the way he kept looking at the older man, but the solider seemed determined not to see anything beyond the eggs he was so viciously attacking. The last to arrive at the table (which as a rule meant the one responsible for doing the dishes later), Robin seemed as unresponsive as the girl that had first came to the family three years ago, her head cast every which way but up as she stumbled into the remaining seat. Poe and Ira had thankfully never encountered the undead before, but from what they had collectively gathered from such tales, their sister fit the criteria of such an atrocity - even her glasses seemed askew on her nose as she stared down blankly at the packed plate that had been placed before her by their mother. The girls might have just attributed this disinterest in vittles as a bad night's sleep in which what little REM was was mustered was tainted by the black spots of nightmares and pseudo dreams come true, had it not been for the present company. Though they had no idea if Robin like liked anyone, it was no secret that the teen would light up whenever her best friend came around, even on days they all knew she had suffered from night terrors.

Assuming for a moment that the cause of the affliction had been purely secret horrors, the doctoring duo felt that even if there weren't even a few drops of redemption to be had in the dreamscapes, the mere presence of Chris should have been better than any simple scrap of salvation. He had been a large factor in the smattering of ingredients it had taken to manufacturer a remedy for their sister's sorrows, so why wasn't sitting at his side enough this time?! Taking matters into her own adorable hands - Moria too preoccupied with nibbling at her muffin, the butter knife still quivering from the force she had exerted when she put it down - Polly demanded of the two sitting across from her at the table, "Why are you two so quiet?! Normally we can't get you two to shut up."

Jerked back to the present as if they had just been set on fire out of the blue from an unseen source, both Chris and Robin had gawked unceremoniously at Polly and then back at each other, realizing for the first time how the seating arrangements had fallen. Though Claire and Jill might have had their hunches about things, the only other soul seated at that dinning bench to know even a smidgen of the truth was Carlos, and even then he only knew so much of the unfolding narrative. But neither the soldier nor the athlete spared the others so much as a peripheral thought through the cloud that had seemed to obscure all else but the other; even the two girls that were too young and innocent to sense the tension could see just far enough beyond the veiled rift to gather an inkling of the schism that was forming between friends. None of them were even remotely aware of the fact that Chris had worried so early as his first waking moment that very morning of the two equally important relationships he would damage if his restraint was to wan at the wrong moment, although the teen - who was inadvertently the cause of the sudden metamorphosis - was well aware of what had came after the shift. Clearly fermenting but not quite seething on the inside, the girl could only read the emotion bubbling at the surface, and that was more than hurtful enough to have to see what she had done to her best friend, if such a title could possibly survive the aftermath of this ordeal. Boiling back to the time when she was still his precious Little Bird, it had been torture enough for him to think of the immediate dangers that he had to wade through when he had known all of the components of the equation, but now that the barriers were falling away to include the unknown... Well it was enough at the time to see that Robin had been burdened by the actions that changed everything between them.

Only distracted so much by the chatter (which on some level felt forced as a tool of intentional diversion), Kathy had felt the crackling electricity in her very bones as Chris and Robin locked eyes and had accordingly lowered her fork without taking a bite and gaped with a slight frown at her oldest daughter. Scrutinizing the young adult more closely, the caked on cover-up couldn't completely erase the now off-pink rims of her ashen orbs, and there was no natural angle that could have masked the misery and heartache as she mooned over Chris. Slightly ashamed that as a mother she had not picked up on it sooner, Kathy had deduced that the subtle tremors rocking Robin's shoulders all morning had been caused by those horridly loose pajamas. The evidence had been there the entire time it seemed, but Mrs. Burton didn't want to believe that Chris could ever be the cause behind the tears of any of her children... No, maybe it wasn't what she was thinking, maybe it was something else; a fluke, or something. It had to be something else - anything else would be better than to discover that the two of them were secretly carrying on - because the housewife shuddered to imagine what could happen if Barry ever got wind of even the flimsiest shred of evidence.

Resolving in that moment to get to the bottom of things and confront whomever it took to get answers, Momma Bear came up with a clever cover that would also keep her spouse occupied should his mysterious happy bubble burst and he catch the scent of possible betrayal. Real intentions hidden from all, on the outside Kathy's whims created the impression of guilelessness as she articulated a simple suggestion, "Today sure is beautiful - it would sure be a pity to waste it! I know that as a girl I used to love lazy summer days spent near the water, so why not enjoy the land we live on and the people we're with? If anyone doesn't have a suit, I'd be more than happy to find a suitable loaner."

Obviously the two youngest were jazzed by that idea (and floored that their sister was not equally amped since the health nut lived for that sort of thing), so naturally the notion was infectious amongst the majority and a satisfying consensus had been reached rather quickly. As a matter of fact, the vote to temporarily vacate the comforts of modern convenience would have been unanimous, were it not for two certain stinkers that quelled when group participation became mandatory. Again it was one of those things that only he could know, but after he had turned away from the girl like a poison, Chris had attempted to escape from the kitchen door at the same time Carlos had returned with the item she had volunteered to get in the first place, stupidly not expecting to be intercepted and forced to stay for breakfast. Whatever had happened between them that morning before breakfast, it couldn't have been any more obvious to Moira that Robin was torn between wanting to run off so she could cry and begging Chris to hear her out. And for his part, it was just as abundantly transparent that he was in a rush to get away from her; once his plate had been cleared of food and cleaned of crumbs as it soaked in the sink for washing later, Moira and Polly had both overheard Chris mutter some excuse to Kathy about needing to take a long walk to clear his head. Following suit, the teen had mirrored the living lifeless as she shook her head and whimpered something about not feeling well and wanting to just sleep it off.

Ira couldn't have agreed with Polly more that their sibling was being an incomparable idiot, and maybe it was taking it a step further than what her little sister felt, but as she reflected on her way up the stairs (nearly knocked over by the devil herself as they traded places) to try one last thing to get Robin out of her nest, the girl thought that Chris was being a big jerkface at the moment. There were a number of reasons that she felt bad for thinking that, but the biggest of them was the fact that she was so taken in by the awesomeness that was Claire, Moira had always wanted to be able to call the redhead her sister. Considering the age gaps and everything else, the only real shot she had of that happening was if Chris and Robin were to ever get married, but besides being a long-shot, this fighting was so not the way towards that walk down the aisle. Determined that her wish should come true sooner or later - sooner being the preferable outcome - the middle sister had made up her mind to investigate matters further and do whatever she could to encourage her sister not to give up! Whatever had happened to earn those strange looks couldn't have been so bad as to erase all of the good moments between the two friends.

Planning on starting her talk with the door using those exact same words (it was rather self-explanatory that Robin would refuse admission to her room when she was so down), Moira finished up her plan of attack when she had nearly been trampled to death by Polly. Reminding herself to talk to Poe about that one later, Ira just hoped that Robbie would listen to what she had to say. "Robin?" Knocking on the door before she plopped herself on the floor, Moira settled in for her speech, grateful for once that it took way too long to wrangle in a crowd. "I dunno what Poe said to you, but whatever happened this morning can't be bad enough to undo all of the good moments you share with your best friend! Even if it's only to bump into him, you should come with us. Put on that little bikini that dad hates so much and show 'em all what they're missing out on." Other than a soft sniffling noise, there was no other proof that the room beyond was occupied. "I know that you spent forever plotting what to wear this week, and at least two week's worth of your check went to buying what you needed to impress. Why are you letting that effort go up in smoke?

Groaning at the lack of an answer, Moira pressed on, "Chris is your best friend, and together you are each one half of a once in a lifetime team, so you can't let your petty squabbles consume what you have! You know better than anyone else that life's a real cunt, that it will knock you down to your knees and keep you there if you let it, but even if you forget it I can't, and I won't, because when you lost everything it was Chris that opened your eyes to the life you have now. He never gave up on you, even when you pussed-out did everything in your power to shove him away!" It might have been hard to believe now, but there was a short gap between meeting each other and becoming friends where Robin had made rather juvenile attempts at shutting him away. "At the end of the day we can only remind you so many times what you've had to overcome, of how much you mean to each other,"they didn't lie to their mother when they said that they had no idea who Robin liked, or even if she liked anyone, but because of her own selfish wish, Moira really hoped that this next part would be on the mark, "I know that you like Chris, and for whatever reason you want to keep it a secret, so we never told mom what we really know. Locking yourself up and pissing away any chance of winning him over is a poor way to repay us. It's a poor way to repay yourself! Robin, even though your being a scared little bitch right now, you deserve to be happy too, so you should really go after what you want and make it happen."

Called from downstairs by a disembodied voice at that point, Moira too departed from the locked safe, not uttering another word as she cast once last hopeful glance over her shoulder - maybe she had pushed it too far by saying that she had been aware of the truth this entire time, but the ten year old had no other clue about how to elicit a reaction. She wanted Claire to be a part of the family more than she could describe, but she also wanted her sister to be happy. The teen might have been distant and moody and completely stuck on Chris to the point that it got annoying that she never did anything about it, and she could really hog the bathroom like no other (which made no sense since she never wore make-up), but she loved her. In their own ways they all did, so it wasn't shocking to see that Claire was the next person to traipse upstairs to try and lure the monster from her lair. Claire really was the greatest!

Smiling down at Moira as she passed her in the hallway - honestly, how much foot traffic did one area get? - the redhead took a deep breath as she readied a good scolding; had Chris not managed to outmaneuver his sister, it would have been him on the receiving end. Well it probably would have been the two of them anyways, but it would have been more beneficial to her understanding to speak to her brother first. "May I come in?" Claire rapped her knuckles on the door two times, even though it was fairly obvious that the teen was trying to disappear into the wood, "I don't want anyone else to hear what I have to say, and I don't think you will either." There was a slight pause as the girl stood up and unlocked the door, leaving the older woman to enter on her own as she retreated to the bed. Claire gazed around the contents briefly, somewhat shocked to see the canopy, "Wow, its way more colorful and feminine than I would have guessed... Robin," the visitor collected herself once more, "I have to know: What's the deal between you and Chris? Earlier this morning you two seemed fine - a bit off, but fine. But just now it felt as if something happened, something bad. I don't want to believe that my older brother would do anything wrong, but I need to know - did you do something to lead him on?"

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: Having only limited knowledge of Revelations 2 at this point, all I know is that Moira has a foul mouth, which for the purposes of my story I can assume she picked up from Robin. Admittedly I looked up friendship speeches on Google to help get the ball rolling, and while there was some good stuff, what really inspired Moira's rant was <em>The Little Rascals <em>and one of the _Rocky_ movies. Because in what universe would Claire not believe in Chris over a girl she kinda knows?

Anyways, please review! I'd really appreciate it!

Music: "Wasteland", by 10 Years. I think this song rather speaks for itself.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	9. Digging Up The Corpses

Did she do something to lead Chris on? Readily the teen would have scoffed at such an idea as it would imply that Chris felt something for her beyond friendship, but the look on his face as he turned from her in the hallway haunted the stormy inner eye without relenting for even an instant, and breakfast had never been so chilly an affair before, so the girl couldn't help but to wonder. Had she done something to bait this outcome? Ira was right when she said that Robin had planned ahead of time what to wear for this week, but that had only been to show him that she wasn't just a child anymore; the bird only wanted to let nature speak for itself. Never in her wildest dreams did she actually expect it to work! If it even had, but given how things had turned out, it was a fairly safe assumption to think that on some level the endeavor was a success. So was Claire's question on the money? Had all of her longing sighs simply been delayed on the air before they started turning his head? Seeing her and Carlos in the pantry entwined together like two shoots of ivy in the same pot, did the soldier suddenly get the impression that the teen had done the impossible and moved on, seeking male attention elsewhere? If she had consulted the Magic-eight ball perched by the CD player, the athlete foresaw that the answer would have read back something like 'all signs point to yes'. Was it really all her fault?

In so many ways her heart was screaming to shout out and admit that she had pained Chris and that she was personally to blame for this entire ordeal, but thankfully her head had more sense than to just blurt out an answer to a question like that, "I... I don't know." This was the absolute last place that she wanted to be, having to decide how much to tell Claire about what little she gathered and just how much she adored the other woman's brother; was this thin line between select truth and downright lies really what it was to be an adult? If so, the young athlete could appreciate now why everyone else was so keen to treat her little better than a child. "Even on the inside its not so simple, but I can't let you think poorly of your brother, because I've been there, and I know that there's little worse than doubting your sibling." At the questioning look on Claire's face, the teen elaborated, "My oldest brother, Alastair, was accused by this girl of getting her pregnant and attempting to bail on the baby, but it turned out that while they had been together, she was already pregnant by her ex. It was a nightmare going through all of that, but when he sat me and Onni down and explained himself, I could see by the look in his eyes that he wasn't lying. At the exact moment I realized that, I promised to always have faith in my siblings."

On one hand Claire's mind scrambled to the conclusion that Robin might attempt to follow in that other girl's footsteps and do something extreme to get what she wanted, but on the other she was moved by the bond between siblings and the fact that the girl would open up and reveal something so personal from her past. In any other setting, the redhead might have taken that story as proof enough that the teen was earnestly on the up and up and innocent of any intentional foul play, but because this was such a delicate subject that involved her family, the older of the two wasn't so quick to accept that answer. "For my brother's sake I want to believe you, but I'm finding it hard to believe that you weren't somehow responsible for him just leaving like that. Like your sisters said, you two are the best of friends, and it takes a whole hell of a lot to rattle that kind of a relationship." There was more that Claire wanted to say, but she felt that an appropriate time to pause for Robin's rebuttal.

Afraid that she might have to delve deeper into matters than she cared to at the time being, the teen nodded her head slowly as she read the situation, and by association Claire's mind, "I know that we really don't know each other that well, so I don't blame you for thinking that I would stoop to something so low. It might be some kind of default answer for others my age, but I'm not that girl. For one thing, after seeing what my brother had to go through, I could never find it in myself to put someone else through the same, and for another, I would never dream of saying or doing anything that would ever reflect badly on Chris." Like the internally Sobbing Sally was so forcibly reminded at every regular interval possible, he was her best friend and pillar of strength (whatever that said about her) and so she never wanted to lose that, but the kid was terrified that if she had to think about their relationship and what had happened today, right now she would make a very stupid connection that was probably so far off base they might as well be in another dimension from one another. All the evidence was pointing to Chris having developed some kind of attachment to the teen that wasn't quite right, but there was just no way that that was how things really were! "Like you I'm still trying to play catch-up, but whatever is going on, its not what you think, what I..." Robin just barely stopped herself from saying 'what I want', "I'm not the girl who will be loved. Not in the way that really matters - not by a soul mate. I have my family, and who knows, someday I might even get a husband, but for whatever reason we get married, it won't be love."

Ok, so that wasn't the answer Claire was expecting to get back. Yes, it was true that the redhead had seen something along the lines of the teen declaring her intentions of never wanting to harm Chris even by reputation coming, however the more advanced figure had failed to predict that she was about to hear such an intense case of self-doubt. Chris obviously felt something strong enough for this kid to risk losing one of his closest friends, so by that logic there would surely be someone out there for the girl if her brother wasn't the one. In her eyes Robin wasn't that classic beauty that inspired cheesy old romance novels, but the girl was pretty for the sporty sort, had a great head for gears and bullets, and as her sisters could testify she was absolutely great with kids, so even though she wasn't the brightest apple in the orchard, there should have been enough suiters for her down the line. Even if there were no redeeming qualities to be found, Claire couldn't take hearing a girl talk down about herself, "Don't sell yourself so short! So what if some guy doesn't like you now?! You're an amazing girl, and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to shine where you won't need some meat-head to feel like the star you are!"

Taken aback by that passionate outburst (although it still applied to some degree), Robin brandished her head from side-to-side, "No, you misunderstand what I mean. Thank you for the compliments, but this one time I'm not talking about the one-sidedness of things - I'm just not fit to be loved, on a genetic level." There was an entire story behind her words, but that would entail a confession that had seldom been heard by anyone - including her therapist - and she didn't feel comfortable enough with Claire to get into the murky waters of her past. Even Chris she avoided the subject with, but that was for other reasons. "In my mind," she chose her opening words with great care as to not cause alarm, "I come from darkness, from a past that will somehow tarnish the future. I don't know how it'll translate, but I worry of what could happen if I ever did allow myself to try to love. Besides, even if I could find it in myself, no one could ever love my demons enough to stay and mean it. I don't deserve it. Not that anything even remotely close is happening with your brother and me - we're just friends."

"Demons?" Claire knew all too well what surviving Raccoon City had done to people - how could she not, being one of the 'lucky ones' to escape from that madhouse? - but to hear the teen speaking not only with a considerably level-head but also with the shadow of a repressed shudder, the woman was more than mildly curious and hugely concerned. Robin had been handled rather well from what she thought; getting monthly counseling (it had started out more frequently from what Kathy said), the athlete had been protected and almost jealously guarded. "What do you mean by 'demons'? What other demons could you possibly have? And how are you so calm about this?"

To confide the fullest extent of her meaning to Claire would have been more than merely finding it in herself to open up: it would have forced the teen to dig deep down into that shrunken hole that was still hollow in places and rummage through the shattered remains. Her mother, or rather the woman that had given birth to Robin and her brothers, had despised the lot of them, but there always seemed to be a special place in Kelby's heart for the hatred she harbored especially for her only daughter. Whenever the kids had convened amongst themselves, they had all come back around to the same conclusion that their largely absent father was ignorant to how their dear mother made them suffer, even her so-called 'precious first-born son'. Initially the flightless avian had always just thought that the surrogate was bothered by how much her father had adored his baby girl, but with time and age that perception had come to alter itself, although that was a different matter in its own right.

What wasn't a separate issue was the fact that that before Armas was born (Armas being the youngest child in the family), the kids were home schooled. But unlike the standard curriculum taught at most most schools, it wasn't just math, english, and art that their mother taught - the three oldest had been molded in to quite the skilled laborers. For each other's sakes they had never confided exactly what Kelby had put them through when they had their individual lessons, but every night after their father went to bed (on the nights he was actually home), she would yank the trio out of bed post getting tucked-in and would make them clean the house or do other chores until they were finished, even if that kept them up until the next day. In all living memory Robin had never once seen her birth mother holding any sort of a broom in her hand, unless witnessing it getting shoved into one of her brother's hands counted; and yet everyone had always congratulated the reluctant mother on how pristine and new the house looked. Once during some fancy party Kelby had been throwing, the girl had gotten it into her dark head to say that she and her siblings were the ones who prepared it all, but the guests all just laughed and patted the child's head as if she were joking. After they were all gone Robin had been spanked worse than ever before, and for the next week she wasn't allowed any food (Alastair had been punished almost as harshly for the remainder of that week, just for slipping some carrot sticks to his baby sister), and on top of that, she had to do all the cleaning by herself.

The teen could still clearly remember how her hands had looked at the end of the week; the skin was literally raw at the knuckles and palms (it often fell on her to use the smallest brush, and with mom's ever-watching eyes, her brothers could only do so much for her), and she had lost half of her pinky nail as the refrigerator door had closed on it during the weekend scouring. The cover story was something stupid like she had gotten into a fight or was trying out boxing or whatever, and practically no one had questioned it. Not a one that she had been aware of at any rate. Taking that lump so early in life, Robin had been forced to accept that she wasn't worth the effort of an inquiry, that her mother had been right to call her worthless... Well the teen had grown since then and knew that she was worth something, but aside from that lesson in not stepping out of line and suffering in silence, she still retained fractions of her mother's earliest teachings. Hearing your own mom say to your face that you will never amount to a thing was no easy lecture to get over.

"Let's just say that the past is better left where it's at." That had been Robin's reply to anyone that had tried to pry into her life before the destruction of Raccoon City, even the father she found. It wasn't completely personal that she shut down that topic at the roots - the girl was just beginning to cope with the loss of her brothers and everything she had known before this adjustment, and she wasn't sure that she could take delving beyond the cataclysmic events that had changed her life so completely. What she could do, however, was explain to Claire how she was holding up so well in the face of rejection. "As for why I'm so composed, that's easy enough to answer - I came to the conclusion long ago that the moment would come where I had to accept certain truths." Truths that Chris would inevitably have to back away from her (although she always thought that it would have been the outcome of her direct admission of her feelings), and their friendship would have to undergo a metamorphosis for either good or bad. It probably helped that the teen had literally cried all the tears she could last night, so now not everyone had to see that most loathsomely weak side of herself.

Visibly letdown by that brush-off, Claire understood that it must have been difficult to open up to someone you didn't know that well, but this was seriously all she was going to get? "Truths, what truths?" Urgh, it felt like this conversation - if it could be called such - was becoming increasingly one-sided, and she was stuck on the questions-only side reading pre-written cue cards. No, Claire wasn't one to be sent away without getting matters off her chest, even if she didn't get answers in return! "Never mind. If something is happening between you and my brother, you should know that its in poor taste to carry on like this, especially in front of everyone. If you want to keep it a secret, fine that's your business, but you should at least consider what this is doing to everyone else around you. Your sisters will catch on sooner or later, and what do you think will happen to your parents when they find out? You owe them better than to-"

"I know I owe them. I owe them more than I could ever hope to pay in a million lifetimes!" Jumping forward in agitation as she cut into Claire's statement, Robin didn't want to hear the guilt trip of how she was on the brink of breaking her parents hearts and simultaneously ending friendships that had been intact and dependable for years more than she could guess, especially not now after the week she was having. Honestly, just before this visit had started she was stoked and in a great place, but it felt like ever since the Redfields arrived at the house, everything was turning to shit around the teen, and crumbling, she had been brought to her knees in pieces. "I owe too many people too much, and by all rights I shouldn't be allowed to sit up here and enjoy the life I do!" At those words the minor irritation bubbling inside shot through her body like a bullet from a most trusted shotgun, shredding the internal container as it bled out memory and bitter sorrow, "I don't deserve even a fraction of the love I've experienced these past three years; not the affection, not the admiration, none of it! I've done things, seen things... I..." Closing her eyes to block the tears that were physically impossible to come, the girl thought of what her sister had said about wanting her to be happy, which in turn made her think of Chris, "I shouldn't be put on that pedestal, because I'm no perfect angel. I've been trying so hard these last few years to live up to everyone's example, to be strong and capable, and brave, and whatever else, but that's so hard for someone like me..."

Voicing for maybe the first time just how little they really knew each other, Robin threw her head back so the sable curtain fell back behind her shoulders, and she gazed at the ceiling as if seeing beyond the ozone and outer atmosphere to a heaven beyond, a place that she truly doubted in this moment that she would touch, "Do you want to know the real me? I bottle up everything until I can't hold it back anymore, and then I curl up and just cry it all out until I can't produce anymore tears. That's why I seem so unaffected right now, but if you could see inside me at this moment, you'd probably turn away in horror and disgust. Or maybe you wouldn't, I don't know. I'm happy when I'm here with the people I love - this week excluded - and that's why I almost never talk about my world outside. I don't have one. I'm sad, terrified to meet new people for fear of losing them, and the people I do know outside of here tend to annoy the hell out of me. They look at me and judge me, but they don't know. If my oldest brother was still alive, I'd probably get him to sort the naysayers out. At least the ones I couldn't handle on my own. I'm aware that I seem like a good girl that wouldn't do anything bad, but that's really not the case - I burp, I swear, I've been known to do certain favors. You've probably heard my mother wish a dozen times that I didn't hang out with my friend 'Nicolette'; well that's no friend, that's my own nicotine habit. I've bribed my peers into selling me the answers to tests I've ditched on, the only reason I have such a high score in my science class is because I cheat off the kid next to me, and I'd probably be flunking math if I didn't blow the teacher, who might I add is a complete bitch that will still dock points if she's not happy with the outcome of the 'extra lessons'."

Stopping the teen's rant before she went on to admit that stole candy from babies and replaced it with packets of heroin or that she took it from behind to earn that place on the competitive girls dance circuit (which the woman hoped were both just horrible exaggerations that were impossible), Claire almost didn't know what to say to all of that. "Please, just stop right there." Gravely concerned not about how true any of those claims were or what that would mean for the family and the school (at the moment), the older of the women - although maybe not the more experienced - wondered if her brother knew any of those things about the teen. "Does Chris know any of this?"

Catching her breath from the word vomit that had spewed forth, the girl quickly recounted everything she had just revealed to Claire, and with a jolt she realized that not all of it was strictly true, and even the parts that were she had carried with a great sense of burden. "...I might not have done all of that. I do really lie about 'Nicolette', and I have ditched school a few times, so I did have to bribe some of my classmates to get the answers, but I didn't use the entire sheet, honest. And I have cheated off the kid next to me a couple of times, but once was because I was going to get grounded if I didn't bring my grades up, and that would have meant I couldn't play in the away game that spring. The last time was kinda a reflex, and the others were mostly because I was working so late that I didn't have time to study and so I got desperate. I don't even know where that last thing came from, but it might have been in a movie or television show that I saw recently... I just got so into the moment I got carried away..." Looking down at her hands as if waiting for signs that they would suddenly reach up and strangle her for that production, the teen frowned sideways at the young adult, "I'm sorry I said all of that. To answer your question though, no, I haven't let Chris see that side of myself."

Although... Standing there an idea came to her, an idea so crazy she should have dismissed it immediately: Chris, assuming that he had somehow gotten it in his head to see the bird in another light, would undoubtedly change his mind back if he had known that she wasn't the good little girl she was always trying to become! "He's my best friend and a great guy," Robin did take a second - just a second - to calculate what it would mean to do this; on one side of the coin this could have been her chance to take what she wanted most in the world, but that would mean deceiving him into a course of action with a lie, and that went against what she believed in. On the other side of that token, this was her chance to prove what a good, capable person she was trying to be, however doing the 'right' thing and saving their friendship didn't guarantee that they could go back to what they had before. Unsure if the cost was worth it,the pain in her chest roared as it expanded inside and filled up every nook and cranny, mind flashing through every moment they had ever shared together, both good and bad. This really was the end, wasn't it? One way or another, after this morning and last night, there was just no way that things could ever be the same again. "The best there is, actually."

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><p>Author's Notes: Bah-nah-nah! So what oh what did Robin decide to do? Will she be a typical teenager and go for what she desires, or will she rise above and strive to be an adult (inadvertently falling into the same trap as Chris)? This chapter was rather hard to decide on how I wanted the story to go (don't even get me started on the hard time I had just trying to find a track to fit this chapter!), but it was worth it, because now I know, and knowing is half the battle. Sorry, I couldn't resist! Anyways, I think that's pretty much all I have to say for now... I dunno man, I'm hungry.<p>

Reviews are always appreciated!

Music: "Digging Up The Corpses", by DevilDriver. There was one other song I wanted to use for this chapter at the end here, since it felt as if the dichotomy that the title alone spoke of would have been ideal here, but ultimately I feel it will fit better for a later chapter.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	10. Vermilion (pt 2)

Perhaps the best there was at wearing down the vast expanse of partially obscured land as he paced interlocking trenches through the starving summer soil, Chris was so worked-up that he had barely even noticed the loud snapping branches that crunched like bone underfoot or the numerous bristly limbs that patted and whacked his torso up as he circled back around again. Following his feet blindly as they took him away to a rugged path unlikely to see any other traffic, the proximity of the expanding trunks provided an excellent partition from the house as well as camouflage from unwanted eyes, however the downfall was that the moderate rise in the slope opened up just at the window of his problem. Urgh, must the girl torment him even all the way out there secluded in nature?! The mere thought of catching a glimpse of her silhouette through the angled gap in the trees fired him up all over again as thoughts and memory gave way to the fiery blade in his chest and back, each recollection re-opening the wound wider and deeper.

First there was the prompt revealing of the previously hidden sandbox at the park - Christ knows how much he wanted to build that sandcastle - and then to find that the go on the swing-set he thought had been saved especially for him was given to another kid with his own swing-set back home was just too much. A part of the soldier always knew that there was a chance that someone else would stumble across this particular playground at some point, but the lone sentry sitting atop the rusting slide had given him the impression that not just anyone would be allowed inside. Taking his time to just enjoy the sunshine at one of the various benches all this time, Chris didn't notice the new additions being added, so when he finally did gaze away from the blue blue sky, he was startled to find the gleaming steel add-ons, but more so to find that he was no longer the only guy to be aware of this hidden gem. How had this secret getaway been penetrated by another, when had word leaked about this miniature paradise, where had all the time gone, and why would a boy with his own amusement park come here to this gardened sanctuary?

Improve wasn't the right word for it, since the potential and beauty was always there inside, but Chris had done so much work to bring the underneath to the surface; toiling and laboring as he navigated the marshes, he had been able to see the treasures under the sludge of doubt and buried truths. Robin had been so locked up after losing her family and friends, but inch by tough inch, she was giving way to see the light - but had had he worked too hard on this cause? Delicate yet resilient the young woman had become so swayed by him that some might have called her puppy-like behavior pathetic, and in turn he had taken a shine to her, but after years of nothing changing between them, was it only natural that she would grow restless and seek out other options? Boredom could give away to terrible things as he learned (especially in teenagers), so was Carlos really to fault here? Obviously for doing this behind Jill's back he was a scumbag who would get his comeuppance one way or another, but was he really the only one to be blamed for this outcome? After all, they did say that it took two to tango...

Not even meaning to, the soldier could clearly envision her arms wrapping around Carlos as the girl smiled to try and cover up how scared she actually was (would the mercenary see that hesitance, could he identify the nuances of her expressions?), her gray eyes more silver as a spotlight fell on her face. Lips parting ever so slowly as she whispered something in his ear (if it was a bluff, would he be able to see through it?), the speech quickly became nonverbal as hands started to roam (if he pressed his hand to her chest, would he feel her heartbeat in time with his own?). Suppressing a shudder at the thought of his Little Bird engaging in the horizontal dance, it dawned on Chris as he froze only long enough to stare at the portal between them that the idea of the teen with anyone else would bother him to no end, and it had nothing to do with who her father was - he wanted to be the one holding her in the pantry, at night, whenever it was possible. More than a friend and more than purely physical, the man realized that she was the one he desired: he longed for her to be the girl that he would embrace after a long mission abroad; the companion he would sit up with all night during a snow-in; the figure he'd wake up to after spending all day dancing in the rain.

Desiderate for that momentary image of harmonic perfection and willfully ignorant of what the scene would really entail, all Redfield could think of was how that picture might come to be painted, if it could even be achieved now. Busting her and Carlos together, Robin must have been put in a real dizzy over how he would handle that situation, if he would tell her father and/or Jill, all the while tearing herself up over what he must be thinking about her. He knew from everything that the teen never told him that she was trying her damnedest to impress him and live up to the standard she saw them all through, and he also knew that in some ways she was letting herself down on that front. A smoker himself, he couldn't completely begrudge her that vice, and honestly it was Robin's differences from the rest of them that had brought him that much faster to being her friend. Did he know what all of those little contrasts were made of? No, he did not, but that didn't change the fact that he saw the person lurking inside that shell. At any rate, this wedge that had been placed between them might just be too immense to ever overcome, so either way he looked at it, the friendship seemed as doomed as Pompeii on that fateful day...

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><p>Author's Notes: This chapter ended up being considerably shorter than all the rest, but aside from the fact that I'm not entirely about just filling up some insane word count (although I'm not completely against it), this was cathartic and just feels complete right here. And haha, more evilly sinister music! This story is about Chris too after all, and maybe it's just me, but it feels as if he's been benched for way too long now!While Chris works out his answer for himself, I like that Robin was pushed into hers by an unexpected conversation. I considered changing the first line of the second paragraph, but the thought of ruining "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" was too strong to over come. Or maybe that was just me ruining it for myself. Meh, either way it works. The playground metaphor was inspired by the movie "Sucker Punch". At least now he's starting to realize what it is he wants out of her, but is it too late now that they both see how much the relationship as altered over these past two days? Dammit, and something else I should have put in the notes for the last chapter (curse such trivial things as hunger) is that the story takes place as Robin finds herself on a downward spiral, so as I said in the last chapter, this is an off time for her so her normal reactions are skewed.<p>

Reviews will always be very appreciated!

Music: "Vermilion, pt. 2", by Slipknot. Thankfully the strife of figuring out the songs/chapter titles made it possible for me to figure out the next couple! I battled with the usage of pt. 2 because its a sequel song, but it just fit what I thought Chris would be going through perfectly, so I came up with a compromise! In the chapter title, I figured that I would tweak with the actual name of the song a bit. Mostly for my own peace of mind, but potatoes tomatoes.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	11. I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore

Standing alone on the hilltop that would have overlooked a vast portion of the Burton residence if not for the thicket of muffling greens, the soldier gazed between that gap in the leafy hunter treetops, seeing not just the empty window but the neutral rocky wall that gave way to the cool pewter paint job. Of all the various window sets and styles that covered the residence, Chris' favorite was the stained glass depicting the final scene of William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', but alas that memorial of history's most famous love story was in the library on the other side of the house, hidden from sight. Not much of a reader himself, Chris liked that particular window because for one thing it overlooked the garden that supplied the family with roughly one-third of their food, but more than that he admired the reflection between worlds for its craftsmanship. It wasn't entirely realistic as Romeo's hair was done in royal hues of midnight and lilac as to not blend in with the inky shades of obsidian and ash used for the homely doublet, and the murky background was an open field of stars with a waning crescent moon as opposed to a more classic candle-lit crypt, but what really struck him was the eerie resemblance Robin had to Juliet. Often times the family would just laugh at the vague enough coincidence of it all - himself included - but musing upon the possibilities of how doomed the current situation was, the soldier had to ponder if maybe the effortlessly interpreted likeness wasn't a sign of some sort.

Eyes opened by libido, envy, kismet, and ire - arguably the very same sentiments stirred in the tragic and immortal tale of forbidden romance - the man was curious to know that now that he was able to pursue this new path, might the option have been revoked by his own hand? Upset simmering from the distance he created and the shocking discovery he came to, a part of him had to wonder if it was really possible for anything good to come from this clarity, or if at the end of the day he was still doomed to sweat the inevitable fallout. Obviously someday he would have to face Barry about this one way or another, since between himself and the teen one would step up and make that first move (now sooner than later), but did it really have to come out so soon? Nothing had even technically happened yet, but... Well to put it another another way, it would have been one thing if he had come to this conclusion once the girl was legally a woman or older, but considering the fact that she was still only seventeen... Yeah, this situation looked bad no matter how you looked at it or the words one might use to try and justify what came next.

Following that train of thought as his eyes shifted over to a subfuscous hollow in the nearest wooden sentry, a family of fuzzy brown hatchlings tweeting and hooting hungrily from deep within the scarred bark as they waited for the return of their parents and a live meal, what exactly did come next? After breakfast it became rather obvious that things were going to have to adapt in order for them to survive in the same social circle - from either perspective the only solution was change - but just what did that transformation encompass? The age gap would always be a tender issue among people, but for the next year or so - at least the parts that he was in the continent for - it would be an actual fight they would have to contend with, assuming that he did act on this and they made it into something. Trying not to get too far ahead of himself, Chris wondered what would happen a year from now, when she had hit adulthood and didn't have to answer to anyone but the government and whoever else was above in the chain of command, what if her parents had made her chose between continuing to remain under their roof or him? Presuming for a moment that she had picked the soldier, would the girl then move in? Considering that it would have been his fault Robin was forcibly evacuated from her home it wasn't like he could turn her away, and besides making him the biggest asshole of the year if he even tried, Chris would never be able to forgive or live with himself. Of course there was always the option of her just applying for student housing or a place of her own, but that brought him back to the point that she would be going off to college and he would be spending a majority of the time away on missions, so they were still in a position where they would barely get to see the other.

Plus with college came a whole other slew of issues that they would have to face, including him not trusting her rather sketchy story about not sleeping with her dashing foreign-exchange roommate after crawling back home late one night after drinking a bit too much. It was college, the time when the girl ought to have behaving her worst so that someday she could be the best person possible, but that didn't mean he had to like it; sending Claire away to finish her schooling had come with a sense of relief, but with that ease also came even more to concerned about. But the reverse was just as true - naturally working in such close quavers with Jill for a bulk of the year, Robin would get jealous and either leave or cheat, and when confronted about her decision, she'd spin it and point the blame at him for making her feel so lonely that she had no other choice. Of course that was just all worst-case scenario, so maybe none of that would happen. Maybe she wouldn't even pick Chris when asked to chose between him and her family; maybe the girl would just break up with him then. Who's to say that by the time that dilemma came around they even still wanted to try and see if they were interested in the other that way? Losing Robin in any sense seemed like the worst possible outcome, although he had thought that about Jill too...

But something just felt different between the two of them and their respective stories, though the man couldn't begin to explain it. Robin and Jill were two very different women with different wishes and goals (for one thing Jill eventually wanted to settle down and have a family) yet they were both his closest confidants, and they were both two of the best people that he knew. However, having said that, Jill seemed to have matured well beyond Chris these last few years, and even if she stalled her own progress and had waited for him to reach her level, it felt in the deepest part of his heart that they would never click in a romantic sort of way. Robin, on the other hand, still had plenty of room to outgrow Chris as well, but at the present they seemed to gel even better than two compatible herbs for mixing. It was a strange metaphor to be sure (and a sign that he might have been speaking to Rebecca a tad too much if her professional jargon was rubbing off), but under the circumstances it was the best that the weary soldier could come up with when his mind was so scrambled by the avalanche of thoughts and what-ifs bombarding his brain.

On that charming note, Chris could stand here amid this plot of unchanged nature staring up at the emptying house until the sun set in the east and the seas dry, but that would not change that these thoughts were nothing more than presumptions and the earliest stages of seedlings that could someday sprout and become viable dangers. Nothing more than hints of shadows and echoes of a movie that hasn't yet been made, the only thing keeping him there now was fear of what might happen in the future; not even apprehension of his friend selecting Carlos or any other guy was enough to deter the soldier now. Chris knew his Little Bird better than almost anyone else, and he could say with certainty that no force on earth or cooked up in some whack-job's lab could stop him from doing this thing, because the man had made up his mind. Things had to change between them anyways, so now was as good a time as any to start tailoring the situation to his own advantage, because there really was no fighting this feeling anymore. Hit by what this turning point meant - what it really meant - Chris turned away from the house and began the trek back down the slope to the sounds of a hummingbird flitting to and fro, something moving off to the side of the trail - probably something tiny scurrying for cover like a floppy-eared rabbit or a curious fox - careful to avoid stumbling on his own feet or tripping in a trap of nature's (it wouldn't do to return with a sprained ankle).

"Hey Pol," not some fluffy critter, Moira's voice cut through the greenery out of the blue like a sharpened steel blade slices broken sinew, indicating that at the very least the pair of sisters were walking nearby, "do you think it would be the greatest thing if Robin married Chris someday? Then Claire and him really would be our family!" Marriage?! There wasn't even anything going on between them yet, and the girls were already talking that seriously? Distantly the soldier wondered as he crouched behind a particularly girthy tree if Robin hadn't implied her desire for a serious future... Well for the moment he was only concerned for the present, but that was certainly an additional item to add to the vault for discussion later. "I mean they pretty much are now anyways, but like legally and stuff." It sounded as if the girl had stopped moving for a moment, "Then she'd have to change her name three times. That seems like a real pain in the ass to me."

Lowering her voice to a conspiratorial sort of whisper, Chris had the impression that Barry and Kathy weren't far off, although granted it was next to impossible to find out for sure without blowing his cover, "Shush Ira! If daddy overheard you blabbing about how Robin's growing up and making her own decisions now, he might try to hold on to us that much tighter." There was a pause as the younger of the two considered the possibility of getting a brother and an additional sister, "I hope they don't move here, because the place gets crowded enough with just the five of us. Why," the child's weariness was laced with a large dose of interest then, "do you think that Robin is faking being sick so that she can secretly spend this time with Chris? Has this whole thing just been some kind of elaborate ruse?!" Apparently Polly had forgotten the fact that he had quickly fled after breakfast had adjourned, and that after the display during and leading up the meal, if Claire could help it, the redhead would most likely be attempting to seek an audience with both Robin and her brother because they were (how the girls might see it) "in a heap of trouble". The soldier made a mental note to himself to be prepared for that encounter. "So long as I don't have to give up my room for any of their babies, I guess it wouldn't be so bad to get another big sister, and if they did get married, then we could better understand what Robin lost. It'd probably make Robin really happy if she could end up with Chris too."

There was a crunching underfoot as the girls started to move on past the fresher limbs that never quite took hold of the ashy bark base, but the soldier could just make out the rest of Moira's replying scoff, "Pfft, babies? Dumbass. Robin loves us, obviously, but can you imagine her as a mother? Remember when Steffie's mom wanted her to babysit for her - and from what I heard Steffie say her mom was offering a butt-ton money for watching the kids - she refused. She was ok sitting over our sleepover last year, but we were all older than Steffie's siblings. I don't think that our sister will be a mom anytime soon. And anyways, if they did get married they'd get their own place, or maybe they'd just stay with him," Moira's voice sounded as if it darkened at this point, although it could have just been the increasing span of soil speaking, "either way something tells me that our sister wouldn't want to remain here if she had a real boyfriend." A real boyfriend? What did that mean...? As Chris puzzled that one out, it occurred to him that Moira shared a bedroom wall with Robin, so the little girl probably overheard quite a bit from her sister that she ought naught have. "And do you really see Chris settling down with anyone ever? He didn't marry Jill, did he? Nope, he's the kind without any hope of a future."

In all likelihood there might have been more to her point, but if so her words were beyond his ability to hear (Polly had frowned, confused about how the soldier for good could be so protective of his own sister and great with their family and not want one of his own). It was just as well though, because in the process of their voices fading away into nothingness in the blazing orange summer sun, Barry's gruff inflection was easily discerned as the older man whispered urgently to who could only be his wife, his own highly-trained ears straining to pick up the same conversation Chris had been inadvertently spying on. Flustered and rearing into overdrive, the father was clearly beginning to panic the same way all overly concerned dads did, which indicated that he had caught a majority of his offspring's words. "Married?! Children?! I can't even accept that my girl is about to graduate from school, let alone go out into the world on her own! Kathy, can you believe that they actually want their sister to move on and start her own life? Don't they realize that once she does, she won't be around to help them throw out most of their vegetables?! We all know that Robin eats most of them for the girls, just so long as they ingest at least two mouthfuls - three at holidays and on special occasions - so what will they do then?! Who will eat their vegetables?!" It was a miracle that Robin had been able to influence the girls into that one good habit, but if she left the house, it was pretty transparent that Barry feared they might stop altogether, or at least that was what Chris was getting out of that rant. "What do you think Moira means about a 'real boyfriend'? Do you think that Robbie's been sneaking boys in the house at night?! And why are they so adamant that Robin will marry Chris? Do you think that there's something we're not seeing between them?"

Taking his first breath during that whole flurry of speech, the man-bear seemed to turn to his spouse in a dizzy that was more crazed than the wildness around them, conceivably receiving a comforting smile from the woman who remained thoughtfully quiet during the entire tirade. Knowing the mother as long as he had and as well as he did, Chris could tell that she was deep in her mind about something and biting her tongue as she mulled it over for herself, and the guilty sensation gnawing at his stomach told him that he knew exactly what she was pondering upon. "Relax dear, you know that the girls are just excited to see everyone together. It's been such a long time since so many of us have been able to gather all at once, and you know how much Moira looks up to Claire, so its natural that she'd want to deepen that bond as much as she can. Oh, and speaking of guests Rebecca called while everyone was getting ready, and she wants to come over for dinner tomorrow night, if 'it wouldn't trouble anyone too much'. Sweet thing." There was a suspended hiatus as she answered the question forming on her husband's lips even before he could so much as open his mouth, "Yes dear, he will be coming along too. I still don't understand why you-"

"I don't like him because he's not a right man! I don't care what she says to defend him, I don't trust a man with that kind of shadow hanging over his head. Rebecca's my old partner you know! She's an old pro, but she might as well be a baby - she's only a few years older than our daughter, and thinking of her with _him_," stopping in his tracks with a rather sinister munch of terra firma, there was such venom in his voice Chris could almost see the spit that flew out of Barry's mouth melting through the tangle of gaudy brown roots below, "its almost like thinking of Robin with Chris!" To a certain extent there was a trace of something akin to hope in his voice as the old man blurted out that particular name, and yet the tarrying tactlessness thickened as the lacuna after lingered ever longer, making it perfectly clear that the father had not meant to utter that suggestion to the universe. "You don't suppose that there really is something there, do you...?" There was a brief intermission as he considered it in more detail, "Chris is a good enough guy, but Robin is my little girl, blood be damned." The words carried with them such an incomprehensible gravity, and yet there was a mixture in his tone that indicated it wasn't a completely horrible thought. But more than anything else, the love and desire to protect the girl came out stronger than anything else there might have been hidden in the meaning or unspoken wishes.

_Blood be damned_. Like a broken record that refused to be changed out or forgotten, the words repeated themselves in Chris' head as he listened to the sounds of the fiercely proud parents retreating deeper into the serene scenery, footsteps echoing away as they vanished towards the widest, deepest (while still being safe) part of the river, unseen but understood. Torn between what he had just overheard and his own resolve, the solider stood rooted in his hiding place as if he had suddenly merged with the earth; on the one hand there was a certain level of approval at the idea, but on the other... Mind made up to make his move on the girl - all restraint virtual gone of its own accord - there was no misconstruing how much he had a yen for Robin, or that this might have been the best thing for their relationship (at least short term), however the man found that he could not move so much as a muscle in the direction of the house, not even when it was obvious that the coast was clear. Listening firsthand to just how much Barry loved his girls, it made the young paratrooper think once more of his own friendship with the more experience pilot and just how much that relationship had meant to him over the years. Barry - and Kathy and the girls when they came into the picture - had been there for so much in his life, and to just go behind the older man's back and take what he wanted felt so unspeakable now that he had came face-to-face with the consequences of what could happen. If he went back to the house, to where the teen was lurking in unwitting wait, something would happen that could never unhappen, and it was something that would bring both burden and joy, but if he followed after the rest of them to join in the well-earned play and relaxation, he would have to shove away all of these perverse thoughts, which might not be the worst thing, as the time it offered might ultimately be a good thing in its own way... Damn it all, which heaven should he chase, and which hell was the most survivable? In times like these, he almost relished the thought of another Mansion Incident...

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><p>Author's Notes: Man-bear-pig! I could not resist that, but I'm not apologizing for it. So after that very short insight into what Chris is thinking, now we see the outcome of their respective decisions! At least that was the plan, but after thinking about things a bit more, I decided to go in a different direction that would see that fateful moment in the story delayed. For those of you familiar with Game of thronesA Song of Ice and Fire, you should spot a pretty little tribute. And also a little lot of lame for the rest of you kitties, but that's just how I roll, smiley face. :) And for all those Chris/Jill fans out there, I personally don't mind that pairing so much, but I honestly see their relationship as more platonic, OCs or not. Just so no one gets upset. As far as all the time it took for this chapter to come out, that I do apologize for, as it was almost entirely me just trying to figure out what would happen next - there was some other stuff too, but that's all pretty personal, so you need just know that I was scheming on what will happen next.

What measures the success of a fic? Is it the number of overall views received, or is it the sum of reviews? In part I ask you this, good readers, and in part I say that it is in the reviews. I'd quote Damnation and say that 'that is my answer, and yours', but then I'd feel as if I were trying to control you, and I don't want to do that! Seriously, I hate being over anyone. Although I really do love that line (and movie series). Anyways, that was written before getting the first review for the story (just in case it sounds rude or ungrateful, which I promise is not my intention), so I want to heartily thank **hooray4natasha **for the kind words!

Music: "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore" by REO Speedwagon. This is one song that I've considered using since damn near the beginning of this story, but the timing was never right - until now.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	12. Whisper

Was there ever a good way to end things? Unsure if that notion was a real thing or just some vague 'Hollywood' concept spun to offer a small blanket of comfort that didn't really exist, Chris stood sentinel outside of the house in the backyard as he fixed a resolute bead on the door, searing lemon-dipped sun blazing overhead as it inched ever closer to noon. Truly summer by all counts that mattered, the air was stiff and sweltering as the heat rose ever higher on the oblong outdoor thermometer fixed to the brick-like archway, yet blessedly there was a slight breeze tugging at the clothes on his back, the gusty fingers of nature's son beckoning him back from the cool shadow of the overhanging rooms above. _The winds of change? _The winds of change urging him to abandon this fool's quest? Or was it patting the man in salute, the nonexistent extremities doing what they could to show its approval despite the shield of the building? The conflicted soul had to wonder as he reached out to pull open the sturdy slab of shapely cinnamon-colored wood, his own fingers brushing the metal of the knob but unyielding to the curve in their owner's hesitance; ever a friend and almost like a brother and son in one, the warrior of truth and combatant of the undead had been welcomed in this home ever since the ink had dried on the papers, and yet it felt strange to be allowing himself inside, unbidden by one Burton or other. Would it always feel that way to him, or was it only the guilt of what he was about to do at work?

Hoping that he would never have to know the answer to that simple inquiry for fear of what it might mean, Redfield found himself stalking straight towards the tastefully adorned hallway that lead upstairs as if watching another man in his skin; the eyes peering out of that scrawny yet familiar body were single-minded in their quest, however the spectral ghost of himself that was observing this scene was keenly aware of the pantry and where he had last seen Robin, her pale arms twisting around the mercenary. The last thing he wanted to think of as she ascended the lightly carpeted stairs, aside from the daunting fact that this was nearing the end of the fairytale, the male was curious to know if it would have been better to run into someone else as he braced himself to climb Rapunzel's flowing golden locks and storm the crypt that would house Juliet and her Romeo ever more. If he had seen one of the others, even Carlos or Jill, it likely would have given him pause to reconsider this chapter in the unwritten living fable, but on that same token it might have brought up yet another valid point to be considered before he took that last step into the rough stone window of the tallest tower. His mind had already been changed once today, so he wasn't in much of a mood to have it altered a third time.

And it would seem as if he was not the only one to flee from the intrusion of others: shifting her two kegs of silvered gunpowder left and right as she slithered out of her room with a crisp bath sheet of the brightest teal he had ever had the fortune to behold stuffed under one toned limb while the other hand crushed something small, stringy, and possibly beaded, Robin didn't glance far enough down the hall to see the top of his head poking up from the staircase as she jerked her head back once more to her bedroom. As far as he could tell, the girl had yet to make up her mind fully about joining the others in their fun and games as they drank in the freedoms of the time of year, but Chris would have been mistaken on that count - Robin had been looking back into her room not because of fleeting indecision but rather who was waiting inside for the girl to clear up her mind. Following an order that Chris could not hear being issued - not so much as a word on her lips in reply - the teen had closed her bedroom door with a firm snap and stalked off for the shared bathroom to take a shower (the water would be scalding hot, more than warm enough to boil a lobster as she scrubbed away the smell of smoke), completely unaware that she was being watched by his hungry eyes.

What a man didn't know could often times fill a book, and in this case there was an entire sub-chapter penned solely on what Robin had been going through while Chris was attempting to figure out what had ultimately led him here to this time and place, starting with the tale of how the girl had been musing herself on if there was ever the remotest chance of an amicable conclusion. In her heart of hearts the child thought that she had her answer, despite the way her orbs had swayed like ribbon from the heap of what-ifs dancing in place on the floor to the drawer where she hid away all of her secrets, eyes finally coming to a lingering stop on the breathtaking jewels of Claire Redfield. As Chris' sister there were definite resemblances the two shared, and more than ever before as the redhead stared back with those bright eyes, the girl could not ignore or shy away from just how much they were alike. There was probably so much more that should have been said on both sides of this conversation, but so much had happened this morning alone Robin was finding it rather difficult to keep up mentally, although she knew that she had to try. If not for any other reason than her love for the soldier, she had to try. On her own part, Claire was weary of strain this was causing the young girl, and for whatever reason that was making her think back to Sherry, and so she vowed to herself to do her best to wrap this up while they still had the chance to do so civilly and maturely as adults.

Dealing with a situation like this one had been well out of the girl's sphere of understanding, and frankly the bird couldn't even find the right way to even sum up the circumstances, but she felt as if she owed Claire some kind of an explanation; weather or not because she she was Chris' sister or due to the fact that she had come to the athlete on her accord as an equal remained to be seen. Owning up first and foremost to her inexperience and general greenery, Robin apologized to Claire before launching into a thorough confession of her feelings, detailing the outline of decision and how she projected it would work out, and in part how she had reached that conclusion. "If I'm right, then this is the right thing for everyone, but if I'm wrong... Well, there should only be the one casualty." Seeing the look the sassy vixen was giving her, the flightless one shook her head, "Don't worry about that, alright? I need to learn, and the best way to do that is to stumble and fall. I know that the margin for failure is like the tides and the sand, and that the finish line to success is like the wavering edges of the water, unpredictable and thin as any other membrane, but this is my life, and I have to try to do things my own way to become the person I want to be. The person that deserves my family's love, that earned the right to be a role model for the girls. If Chris is the man I think he is, he'll understand that."

Debate forming on her tongue even as they sat there on the bed (the monologue had been a rather lengthy one, so it was hardly shocking to see that by the end of it they were both seated), Claire knew that there wasn't anything she could say to dissuade the girl from her path, not even pointing out that while her brother would eventually come to understand, the timing of it would be rather uncertain. "So you really have made up your mind on this, haven't you?" Squaring her bare shoulders as Robin steeled her resolve for what was to pass, the redhead decided in that moment that she liked this child, even if the elder wasn't completely sure what to make of her just yet, "You're a good kid, Robin. Maybe if it wasn't so weird to give someone my blessing to go for my brother, I could actually say I hope that you succeed." While everything was all in theory it was easy enough to say that she was cool with it, but if things worked out in such a manner that they did start dating, the auburn-haired angel wasn't positive that she would be thrilled about a sister-in-law younger than herself. If it even came to that, but knowing the kind of man that her brother was, Claire was relieved to know that he was far too honorable for such a thing as dating not only such a young specimen but the daughter of a close personal friend.

"Umm, thanks?" Robin wasn't exactly sure how to take the other female's words, if they were a genuine sign of acceptance or what. "If you want to go join the others now you can, but I think I need a minute to collect myself first." Feigning a bad stomachache so Claire would leave her alone seemed like a good idea in theory, but the kid had done enough lying and holding back for one day - especially to those few females rightfully named Redfield - so the teen refrained from uttering another untruth and simply asked to be left alone for a while. Some might have suggested that that course of action was a long-shot in the dark (on a blindfolded horse) given what they had been discussing prior, but finding that it had worked for the most part, the girl thought that there was something in just simply asking. "Since you're already so long absent from the party, maybe you could use the extra time to find your brother?" It hardly took a rocket scientist with a bachelor's degree in biology to see that Claire would want to speak with her sibling to get both sides of this story; unsure at the moment of which sibling she wanted to come out on top of that scrabble, the athlete had just bid the older woman a simple farewell and requested that should anyone else want to talk to her at that juncture, to kindly tell them that she was in the shower.

Under the impression - and correctly so - that the girl was going to use this moment to take a smoke break, Claire had agreed to pass on the message in the unlikely event that she was accosted on the way between here and the guest bedroom where her own swimming things were, however only on the condition that the teen really thought about what she was doing. Robin had promised to the terms and sealed it with an earnest handshake that was equal parts just eager to be alone, making use of her newfound solitude to peruse first through the stacks of college pamphlets camouflaged by useless instruction manuals and scribbled-on bits of old scrap paper littering the floor by her bed. It was still a whole year away that she'd have to make up her mind about which school to attend after she graduated, but considering how her personal life was shaping up this season, the girl thought that it would be in her own best interest to think about some kind of accelerated program so she could vanish that much faster. Sure, Robin had made up her mind as to how she would handle the situation with Chris, but that didn't necessarily mean that the young woman expected it to pan out. She hoped more than anything else that her plan worked, but realistically her hopes weren't super high - math and figuring out probabilities were never Robin's strongest subject, but even if they were, there would be no way she could account for Chris' reactions. After all, everything she had thought she'd seen in his eyes might have just been in her imagination, a sign that the doll was truly breaking beyond the point of repair. No, she couldn't allow herself to think like that! This would work! It had too...

Sighing inwardly as she came back around to the one leaflet that had kept finding itself back to the top of the pile (and no, it was not the school that so far had the best outlook), the girl brushed her thumb gently across the embossed logo on the front, her eye catching once more on the letter that had been cradled in the middle of the information. Before the literature on the school had arrived in the mail one day, Robin had never considered going abroad to study, so the girl found it strange that she would have been sent something like that, but considering that it was for some university in Helsinki (where her father was born and bred), she had just written it off as the first of several offers based solely on her ethnicity. At the time, she had figured that it wouldn't be long before schools from her mother's native England came calling as well. And then out had fallen a letter addressed not to Robin Burton, but to Robin Linnet Varis...

Initially alarmed at how someone had gotten a hold of her full birth name, the teen's first instinct had been to tell her father, but she worried that he would get the wrong impression about the nature of the package, and since she wasn't ready at the time to admit that she was shopping for schools, the girl refrained from raising any red flags. So instead she had cautiously opened the envelope and read the contents throughly (it had come in the regular post, handed over by the same mailman they've always had, so surely it must have been checked for dangers at some point or other). The letter had been written completely in Finnish, and ever since Raccoon City Robin had gotten pretty rusty at deciphering the language, and by extension the words carefully slanted to the left side, but even from the first time reading it, certain names had stuck out. Having counted more than once Robin had practically memorized the number of times that her father had been mentioned, and from what she could tell her mother might have been once or twice as well, but if the teen was right, what the sender had to say about Mrs. Varis wasn't very nice. Even if she could have understood what the letter had said, there was no return address; still concerned about her father's probable reaction the athlete had not mentioned this strange occurrence, although she waited patiently every day for another correspondence. Of course it was stupid to keep this kind of thing to herself, but deep down there was an inexplicable urge driving her to maintain the secrecy of this attempted contact. Maybe the girl just wanted to feel as if someone out there wanted her, even if it was only to wear her skin as a winter coat, but a larger part of her gut was saying that this had something to do with her past...

Almost laughing at herself for such an absurd thought, Robin shook her head at her own foolishness and shuffled through the stack in her lap once more, gazing intently through a written map of Ivy University in Tall Oaks. It sounded like a really great school all around, and if she was able to really push herself into focusing this year, the girl might even have a shot at earning a scholarship! Ok, it was probably a long-shot and she'd have to sacrifice time at work and in the gym to hit the books with everything she had, but getting away from her problems was worth at least making the effort. At this rate, escape was the only alternative she had to making a fatal mistake that could forever ruin her dearest friendship, as well as all of the relations between their two families - Moira really loved Claire, so even for her sake alone, the thought of burning that bridge was most dreaded. Urgh, she really needed that smoke now!

Draping her body flat against the bed as the pajama-clad teenager leaned over to dig through the shockingly sparse nightstand, Robin procured the dwindling supply of cigarettes from deep within the drawer, nimble fingers brushing against her non-lethal battery-operated friend. Ordinarily she had two self-imposed rules that no one else knew: Do **NOT** - under any circumstances - smoke in the house; and two, never do anything unseemly in a public place where her actions might get back to her parents. Both were great rules that had yet to fail her, but the kid was stressing out to max levels, and she reasoned that since everyone would be down at the river there would be no harm in bending them to suit her needs just this once, not so long as she sat at her open window and kept a close eye on the yard below. The window was high enough and the yard large enough that it stood to reason that there should be ample warning to put out the cigarette and spray the room with some air freshener. Plus as an added precaution for her sanity, the legal minor would set aside all other issues gnawing the mind so that she could get the most out of this escape.

Lighting up the slender cylinder with a cheap creamy lavender container she had traded from some burnout for another girl's phone number last year, the flame-maker itself out in the open for quick access (her argument to the 'rentals being that one never knew when a fire would be necessary), Robin crawled over to the square portal and threw the cascade of fabric aside to open the room to the world. Sitting at the portal between realms wasn't the most comfortable, but the bird found that it was a spot she had occupied frequently enough. Taking long, slow drags that really lingered in the lungs, the teen only closed her eyes for only a moment as she savored the freedom of a moment not lost on letters or would-be lovers, although that seemed to been long enough as a knock on the door reverted the building sense of serenity. Fearful of who that was and what they would want, the girl asked for just a moment as she extinguished the glowering flame on the painted sill, tossing the unlit secret into the wastebasket on her way to the bedside canister of cinnamon; spraying a generous amount of artificial aroma into the air Robin tossed the can on to her mattress as she swung the door open, revealing her mystery guest.

"What are you doing here?!" Just as she been expecting to see Claire returning with something else to add to the fires of her mind, Robin's gray eyes grew wide as dinner plates on a bountiful Thanksgiving as she was proven wrong about the identity of her new visitor; the surprise and utter lack of warning showing clearly that the girl had been caught off her guard as he stood framed in the hallway, Robin could only gape at Chris with an open mouth as the water beat behind her, untouched. After the suggestion that she should rejoin the rest of the family, Robin had grabbed the same bathing suit her sister had recommended and headed into the bathroom for a shower to wash away her smoldering lies, but the very last thing she had expected to find was Chris standing there in the door, her shirt even more disarrayed from being hastily shoved back on. "I..." Looking into his pools of deepest sepia had been made no easier by the face-to-face with Claire - not that she had held her breath for the contrary - the thoughts of that morning swirling like a vortex on the verge of ripping away her very heart, "You... Is there something wrong with the guest bathroom?" Very smooth.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: Maybe you can see it reflected in the chapter, but I actually tried to write this chapter three times, the first two of which actually would have picked up with Robin and Claire, but I suppose thankfully I kept getting stuck with how to continue that way and instead opted with this compromise. Hopefully my time transitions were easy to understand... Damn, I'm torn between preemptively explaining myself or having more faith in you readers. Doubting myself comes so easy, so I think that I'll just go on a limb and hope that I'm better than I give myself credit for! It's nothing on your guys, so if anyone was insulted, that was not my intention.<p>

RE... Review! Yeah, I realize that that was a terrible attempt at a joke, and not even saying/hearing it in person would have made it better. Anyways (man, at this rate I should probably not hold on so dearly to the first draft stuff) I'd like to say thanks for the second review, also from the very nice/awesome **hooray4natasha**!

Music: "Whisper" by Evanescence. Wow. Just wow. I initially had an idea for the song for this chapter, but working on the chapter and just thinking about it and hearing this one while searching through stuff on my list, I decided to go in a different direction, with this beauty. I think that this one works better anyways, since it just popped and zinged straight off the get-go, at least for me it did.


	13. Making Love

On some level it wasn't remotely shocking to see the soldier taking up space in the doorway, his lean body casual and yet somehow seductive as his rigorously honed muscles blocked the most convenient exit route, and something about it even felt inevitable (which only added to the confusion trying to merge with the anxiety), but after breakfast this encounter had seemed so remotely unobtainable! Or maybe that was just the projection of her hopes speaking as the teen became more and more wildly aware of how under-dressed and exposed she was in this position, one sleeve not even half on and her little boxer shorts hanging off at an angle well below the hip from an interrupted tug. Talk about getting caught with your pants down! Keenly aware of the fact that she was flushing an unparalleled scarlet, Robin attempted to regain her composure and firmly reminded herself that friends fought and made up all the time, so it shouldn't have been so strange to see the perfect example of masculinity cocked there for what she could only assume was her company. It shouldn't have been bizarre by any margin, but after also reaching the conclusion her head kept jumping to - that idiotic notion that there had been something else on his mind beside friendship - it was almost impossible to be in his company now... Honestly, on paper it was thing to have it all planned out, but to be here in person, melting internally just to see those eyes again... Urgh, she simultaneously groaned and whimpered to herself; so far as the bird was concerned, there might have well been nothing left in existence but those eyes...

Picking up on the vibe the teen was putting out (not for a lack of trying to contain it), Chris could understand what the cause beyond that screwy look on her face was; the otherwise lovely countenance fighting to flow with gravity in the rapturous yet tentative wonder tearing at one half of her, an undefined frustration was sucking and curling at the rest. His own convictions tested more than he would have liked in the course of a single day (and not even a full twenty-four hours to boot!), the soldier could feel his own mirror of wavering resolve crumbling once more as he stared into those memorizing pools of liquid storm clouds and refined silver dust, peripherals only just barely registering the fact that she was so close to naked already, more cleavage than ever before on display. If not for the sake of her father and his sanity, as well as respect for her mother and the wish to be a good example for her sisters and their impressionable friends, Chris wondered in some distant part of his brain how much she would dare to bare on her own. Surrounded by nature with an earful of what her family thought and felt as his only companions - or at least some idea of the full extent of their feelings - the military man had been so sure of what he was going to do when he stormed the keep to slay the dragon, nearly every word planed to act the sword and cut away the beast's obsidian-scaled heart, now that he stood looking down at innocent young Robin, it was all swept aside by the inexplicable urge to brush the side of that tender cheek. Dry or tear stained, he just wanted to touch some part of her, to be close to her beating heart and her love, an overwhelming desire to caress those pouty lips almost seizing him on the spot. Why did her lips have to be so lush, welcoming and just ripe enough for the taking?!

Only just vaguely aware that he was leaning in closer and closer to the child and losing proximity with each passing second, Chris found that the creature lurking so deep within evil and the untamed shadows had found its latest victim as the invisible tendrils sapped away the last of his restraint, the words meant to protect against this very thing failing him. He had not expected that outcome even so recently as the ascension of the stairs, and yet somehow he was not as troubled by this weakness as he ought to have been; aleatory to the very last despite the game plan the paratrooper had formed on the way up, the man discovered the old fashioned way that his body had taken over control and was doing all the talking now, and yet somehow it seemed better this way - simpler, truer. Theoretically it would have been best for the others if he had taken a moment to pause and consider what he was about to do, however, if they spoke about it beforehand God only knows what would be said and what would happen, but this way... It had been his honest intention to explain himself, to clarify the situation so they both understood that this shouldn't, nay could not, happen, that they had to resist whatever temptations were presented and do what was best for those around them, that everyone else had to come first above their own selfness, that no matter what they couldn't allow even an inch, even if that meant spending some time apart. That had been the aim of seeking the girl out, originally, but now that he was here... Damn it, it would have been better if he had just gone on ahead and let that action speak for itself, but as he stood there rooted at the crossroads Chris thought that he owed it to Robin to justify his decision, to even apologize if need be. He hadn't meant for this to happen, for her to be stripping to take a shower when he found her, nor had he anticipated finding himself just walking so brazenly into the room without any kind of invitation to do so, all inquires left unanswered as he gave in to the siren call at long last, fully aware that he lost the battle against tasting her lips for himself even before they made contact.

Expanding so huge inside her head and looking to be in danger of popping out of sensually slanted sockets for the slightest of milliseconds, it didn't take virtually any time at all for the girl to respond to the kiss she's burned so long for, eyes closing dreamily as the teen leaned into him; she had fantasized of this exact same scenario millions of times before, so surely it must have been yet another waking delusion, no matter how real his arms felt around her waist as they laced themselves up her back. Unwittingly yanking her shirt backwards, therefore obscuring the valley of her breasts as she clung to his biceps, the soldier found that he fancied the way she felt in his capable limbs, Robin's chassis grinding against his in return, creamy lips sweeter than the rank scent of smoke that clung to her hair, mixing with the overpowering cinnamon room deodorant she still chose to employ. The cinnamon fit nicely for a girl like her, but it was a shame that he could barely make out the natural essence of her being. There was something ravenous about the way that they pulled at the other, each insignificant movement urgent and afraid that this would be their only chance, though as far as the Fates were showing in their single shared eye, it very well might have been, so neither was prepared to squander this opportunity. So much had lead to this moment, every second together mounting towards something greater, and with nigh a pinch of reserve, the solider didn't do anything to stop the girl from deepening the kiss, her own hands wrapping around his neck to bring their faces that much closer together. Spoken word forbidden lest either come to think better of this course of action, the only question that would be allowed was permission to continue, the answer nonverbal - nothing more than the body would speak in this stolen hour.

Peeking through lusty sable slits - nearly pitch black beneath a rich fan of natural ebony lashes, it was safe to say that the rising heat had clouded the bird's eyes and stole away all of signs of reservation - there was a moment that she almost dared to dispute a number of things within her own mind, but realizing how fleeting this insanity could be, Robin shut out the thought and allowed herself to be swept into the moment. Savoring the unexpectedness of this literal dream come true, the girl could feel her retinas burning into his as their gazes locked for what felt a blessed eon of peace, time shutting down all else outside the lip-lock; if everything came to a fiery end all around them, Robin felt in her heart that she could die happy in that moment. Knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt as her lithe form was enveloped in his humanly cradle that she was the only thing he saw - even if it only lasted in this breath - all thoughts had been pushed from her mind, even those pertaining to the person waiting for her in her room, as well as the ass-whipping Claire would dish out when she learned that the plan had gone horribly astray. At least for now, Chris was here with her, not Jill nor any other woman he might know - Chris was here with _her_. Everyone knew that Jill was the one woman that mattered most to the soldier - well obviously besides his sister, but clearly that was his flesh and blood and therefore a different matter entirely - so by all rights even the young athlete had to admit that it should have been the brunette here in the bathroom with him, and yet it wasn't - it was the other girl he could consider his closest friend, the one that no one routed for or even considered a candidate for his affections.

As if to affirm the teen's very thoughts the instant she had them, the soldier stroked his hand across her back - not her backside, fingers itching to grope and fondle, but her actual back, the appendage resting lightly upon the small of her spine to let the flightless bird know that he wasn't interested in just making her another statistic. _What?_ It was almost enough to bring tears to her eyes, although the kid wasn't certain what for, _Why? Why on earth would do a thing like that for?! _Before this little visit the girl hadn't even tossed around the idea that she was on that same radar with the likes of the lovely Jill Valentine prior to this weekend, and yet here they were, one mere tantalizing knee-to-knee brush or earlobe nibble away from finding if his manual hex key would fit with her protruding bolt... Hell, there probably would have been a more poetic way to phrase that waiting truth, but Robin really wasn't one for poetry, so it was practically Shakespearian to the blunt fact that they were about to get it on like a pair of untamed carnivorous beasts in the wild. But would it just be sex? Hand or no, if it had been anyone else in this position the conclusion would have been instantaneous, but because it was Chris, even the raw, scarlet desire burning through the mask of his breathtaking brown eyes was smoldered down enough to savor every gesture, the look on his starving face longing yet loving... Whatever this was shaping up to be, Robin could see that it would be more than a meaningless fling even then, the heavy petting looming nothing more than the distant shine of traffic lights against the dots that were headlights driving through a dark countryside in the dead of night.

Guilty as he was gratified to be allowed this one sin, the man was so upright and law-abiding and just the immaculate paragon of honesty it felt almost evil to be acting so selfishly, allowing his hands to move from that place of comfort to roam unchecked over her all-too-welcoming body, hands cupping to memorize the exact shape of that luscious posterior as he found himself already wondering if this couldn't happen again, and soon. Hmm, yeah, that ass was the stuff of legends, in fact songs should be written about it (although that would entail someone else looking at its glory, which was a thought the man didn't care too much for), but why wait for the next time that might never come anyways, when he could have this moment here and now as she started to wriggle in her anticipation to take this further? Nipping at his lower lip with an itch to match her hips as they swayed and billowed in want, he figured that three years of foreplay was more than enough to wind up even the most reserved of nuns, and the way that she was ogling him through those inviting gray eyes, something told him that even if she was a good devote little lamb amongst the chaste flock, he was about to see a side of her that could make the devil blush. Having said that, despite somehow envisioning the girl to have a rather practiced hand at self-service, he did have to wonder how she would hold her own with a dance partner; tugging impatiently at the hem of his t-shirt, something in the way she ripped it over his head told him that he was about to find out. Visibly salivating as she drank in the sight of of exposed torso, the lightly tanned flesh rippling over defined pectorals like fine silk, it didn't take long for to start tracing the panes with her tongue. Kissing him lower and lower - her hands scarcely heeded as the nimble fingers found his coppery-gold buttons - the dark mischievous glint in the bird's painted marbles clearly translated her intentions with the releasing of each circular disk; this was really about to happen, each action taken before either of them could consider the situation or the consequences, limbs racing faster than either knew possible.

Deliberately delaying only long enough to match her pace so they stood equally unclad, the soldier had the athlete's hips in hand the moment she had snapped the first of two metal barriers, yanking not unkindly at the lank elastic that fell like plum-stained water from her abdomen, leaving her lower body fully on display; blushing fiercer than he had ever seen her cheeks flush (and he had been present for a number of her embarrassments, if he wasn't the source) the girl was quick to avert her eyes and jerk away to shield the sight. For just a moment modesty had seemed a trait unknown to the child, but as Chris leisurely came to gaze upon every last curve of her waist he saw that Robin did in fact hesitate - that was a good thing that mutely confirmed she was still exactly the same girl he had known before and not some lying little harlot in sheep's clothing. Transferring his mitts to the palm responsible for the minimal amount of coverage, the man of action took her hand in his, caressing the skin tenderly as if to say that he thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, that she was safe with him and always would be. Whether innately sensing that the soldier was genuine in his unspoken claim or just coming to trust in the situation, Robin lowered her other hand with a shy tremble of lip, eyes still slightly downcast as she allowed him to behold the kitten that purred at the very thought of his name. Despite the eager anticipation the teen was demonstrating, it was clearly harder than she let on to show him so much of herself.

Returning the girl's sudden bashfulness with a flurry of reassuring butterfly kisses that started at the base of her collarbone and worked their way up to her mouth to become a deep, sensual vacuum that was equal parts sweet and needy, the pilot waited for the taste of her tongue (the nicotine had made it more bitter than he had hoped, but their lips melting together felt so right it became less than a thought in the back of his mind) before taking her in his arms and just pressing her close. Like a fitted jigsaw piece that wouldn't fit just any old puzzle, Robin felt so right and snug there. The what-ifs and whens could wait for later - they had already served their sentence, and now was the time to rejoice in their freedoms; they weren't the only ones to be free either, the expanding tent in Chris' pants pushing down the zipper of its own accord as she unfastened the last button without his notice. A sly one, he realized that this girl could probably unzip him from across the room without being any wiser for it, although so long as they were at her father's house, he sincerely hoped that the girl would at least issue a warning first. There was still an echo of deliberation in her eyes, and yet a smile crept over her lips as Robin took in the sight of what Chris was packing; aware enough of her own body and the stirring in her womanhood, the sight of the throbbing wrench was almost enough on its own. Almost.

Thinking of her as his friend for all these years, Chris never really considered what she would look like with a dirty little smirk lighting her countenance (although as of late he had reluctantly envisioned the face should would make not too much longer after all was said and done), but as he looked at her looking at him, it was a sight he wouldn't hate glimpsing again. As if reading his mind, or at the very least the mind of last night, Robin was free of his embrace and down on her knees before he could blink, all the flow and grace of a veteran ballerina evident as she ducked and sprang to the floor in a single fluid motion; what wasn't so skilled was the way the teen came to standstill that would shame her biological surrogate, something very much like regret twisting on her face as she reconsidered so much as touching the lowest part of him. Considerably on the edges of disappointment and understanding, as much as he had secretly been looking forward to getting some brain, the soldier put his hand to the bird's shoulder and stopped her at the last possible moment, the relief breaking obvious as he shook his head and helped her up by the elbow. Wishing for just one shameful moment that he could fight against his own better nature, Chris knew that despite how many shades of wrong this affair was, he could never live with himself if they came together in this manner, doing something that Robin didn't want nor was ready for, even for a single second.

About to express her gratitude and confusion and whatever else verbally, Chris had his index lightly against her moving lips in a flash, silencing the bird before she could do more than part her pretty beak for the words of thanks burning at the back of her throat; the look on Robin's face was thanks enough, what he hoped to be a promise to pay him back shinning in her eyes. Willing victims or not, whatever this raw carnal lust was, the solider still dearly loved the girl with all his heart and wanted their first time together to be something memorable and nothing to completely cringe at and pretend didn't happen down the road, so if that meant certain sacrifices had to be made, so be it. Lifting his finger from her lips with the slightest pressure once he was sure that her rebuttal was lost, he traced the curve of her chin, the contour of her cheek, the corner of her uniquely shaped peepers, each stroke delicate and letting her know why he stopped her, the gestures whispering how much he adored and cherished her. Grabbing his hand in her own once more as he held the frame of her face, a tangle of long, matted ebony shoved back in a hay-like heap, Robin smiled at him as warmly as she ever had before, the bend of her mouth telling him that she was ready to be his. She had been for a while now.

_So valiant_, the female jock thought to herself as she extended her limbs for the hand that wasn't currently cupping her face but some other part of her anatomy, _Chris is just like a knight in shinning armor from one of those old stories, and I guess that that would make me his princess, since you don't see many fables where the the brave hero makes it with the monster he's been sent to slay. Come to think of it, did any of those legends end in someone fucking?_ Dragging him forward from the door (so distracted by what was happening with Chris, she hadn't even noticed when it had been shut or when the towel had slipped out of her arms to strangle her ankles) which would have been backwards for herself, Robin led him over towards the shower, thinking that the running water would provide all the tallow they might still need. _Maybe a royal by default or chance_, there was certainly not a single princess that the girl could name that ended her fairytale quite like this, stopping just outside of a pearly-white ceramic tub as she gave her champion an impish grin before fully disrobing and exposing herself before his noble eyes. _If I'm a princess, then this is a very sad tale with a very naughty ending..._

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><p>Author's Notes: After all of that will-theywon't-they bullshit, now there's no going back (I considered go all 2004 Gerard Butler _Phantom of the Opera _"The Point of No Return", but I decided not to go that route)! The milk's out of the bottle, the cat's amongst the pixies, and the fat's burning on that fire! Now all there is is for what comes next... And the hex key thing is really a double joke that I hadn't originally considered - sure, being the gear-head I made Robin, I figured that I would work in some sort of mechanical metaphor, but the the hex thing worked out even better as a little nod to the magnificence that is the older games. Thanks to Nicki Minaj for introducing me to the metaphor of brain instead of head. Yeah, that seriously just happened.

It might just be one person so far, but I'm so thankful for the reviews, so **hooray4natasha**, thank you so much!

Music: "Making Love" by Never Shout Never. Originally I intended to use_ Hinder's_ "Up All Night", because they'll be doing stuff her dad won't like ;) But I decided not to at the last minute. Like seriously last-minute. For all the choices I went through, I probably should have just stuck with it, but dammit, this song fit so much better! Well actually a few did, hence it being so hard to just pick one.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	14. Secret Lovers

Umber verging on a more matte side of sable, the former U.S. soldier's eyes were ablaze with a fierce light as he dove beyond the deepest parts of his mate's soul in that one glance, capable fingers dancing across the exposed portion of shoulder not covered by an unbound minty white sun dress or even the delicate sage-hued summer shrug hiding only the smallest part of skin. Her hair was longer now than it had been when they first met, and although he didn't dislike the change it brought to her face, the young woman had recently been talking of getting it trimmed, though that was just talk so far as she remained undecided about the curtain that now hung beyond the pink velvet choker gracing her pale neck. What had been decided on in these past three years was the career change and how she felt about him, no questions or lingering doubts clouding the precious flecks of jade in her wide orbs as the nurse grinned at him, her own dainty appendages grazing the exposed thick ink scrawled on his arm. In her heart and his, there was no looking back at what once was, only forward at what will be; exchanging a final comforting squeeze as they walked around the side of the car and proceeded up the stairs to the Burton household (a day early thanks to faulty phone connections), the couple only harbored suspicions about how their friends would take the big news when they told her close chums and former colleagues.

If anyone understood the verdict they came to and would support them and the choice they made, it would have been Robin. Initially just some scared child they had pulled off the zombie-strewn streets mere days before the tragic destruction of the blooming metropolis, neither Billy nor Rebecca would have ever dreamed that they would have crossed paths so soon after separating in the Arklay Mountains, or that the girl would become such a dear companion respectively and as a whole. In fact, the little bird had been the then-officer's strongest argument to convince a reluctant and crowd-weary Billy that even if by some strange chance one of them did recognize him, not a single one of them would have dared to turn him in when he was so important to the caretaker and the gem salvaged from the ruins of Raccoon. It was no lie that if it weren't for him, neither female might be standing here alive today, and they all knew that. The soldier liked to present himself as a much harder man than what he really was - sometimes the Raccoon City survivor mused that the shell was rather shallow against the contents and he was just a hardened ass - although the sweet little thing didn't doubt for a single second that he wasn't a good man, a man of his word, and he did promise to show up and say hello at the very least. But even still that didn't stop her from fixing him with one last warning glance as they prepared to meet with their most generous hosts, the curve of her lips determined as the day they first met to hold back the tears that came later down the road, unseen but real as the feeling stirring deep within the beating breast.

Heaving a languished sigh that screamed nothing short of the sincerest hope for this to be done with soon and in a painless manner, Billy Coen gingerly took Rebecca's hand in his own and led her up to the front door, knocking briskly with his free fist. Quite unexpectedly, it was not Barry or any of his own that answered the summons but an attractive woman about his partner's age with bright auburn hair held back in a trailing ponytail, the flesh showing beneath a fringed ode to the American flag fastened with hot pink strings glistening with freshly applied sunscreen. Working in the same office space as Chris during her S.T.A.R.S. days before the world was turned upside-down, Billy felt it was safe to assume that the rookie medic had seen handfuls of snapshots of Claire and had heard countless stories long before they had all met, yet he himself had only seen her once or twice during outside gatherings and wasn't even positive that her name was Claire. It might have been Caren or Carissa, Carol, Cressida, Coleen, or even Cassandra. Frankly he didn't know, and he really only cared so that he didn't look like a complete jackass for not knowing the names of all of Rebecca's dearest acquaintances, especially as she had taken the time to learn as much as she could about the few friends he had made over the last couple of years. _It was the price to pay for loving someone_, the ex-marine thought to himself as the pleasantries were exchanged.

On her way down to the back door when she happened to hear the commanding knocking - the younger sibling had every intention to join the rest of the family in their frolicking at the river if she didn't chance upon her brother first - it was a foreign experience for Redfield to answer someone else's front door, but thanks to the situation there wasn't much else to be done. And besides, the young woman had instantly recognized the chipper young RN for her slight stature and blithe bearing, as well was the stoic shadow that clung uncomfortably by her side, so clearly they weren't some random group of psychos out for blood or worse, Umbrella-hired goons seeking vengeance. "Rebecca, Billy! What a pleasant surprise! Kathy said you guys weren't coming until tomorrow!" Hearing that bit of information, the two newest guests exchanged a silent discussion in a few short glances. "Robin will be really glad to see you though, especially you Billy, since she likes you so much. Heaven knows that that girl could really use a friend right about now!" Claire shook her head as if realizing that she had been on the cusp of saying too much, "Do me a favor and never mind I said anything about that, alright?" Casting a overlong grimace over her shoulder, the redhead quickly turned her attention back to the other woman, "Jill and Carlos are here too, and aside from my brother and our little birdy, everyone else is out back at the river just enjoying the sun - I hope you brought something to swim in, because that dress looks _way_ too nice. Where'd you get it, Mary and Lady's?"

Absolutely heartbroken to hear that they had missed the remainder of them as he tuned out the girl talk, Billy was half-tempted to just turn around and leave right then and there, but he had given the jail-bait his word that he would stay, and anyways it would have been a bit of a shame to miss the young bird determined to be the second coming, especially after what Claire had let slip. That girl was as human as any of them so naturally she had fears and concerns, but to show that weakened and wounded side to someone that she didn't know that well? Billy deduced that the athlete must have been in a right state of confusion and terror to turn to Claire when so many other people she trusted and respected were so near at hand at the moment, and since it was likely about her little infatuation with that guy from S.T.A.R.S., his kin seemed an unlikely option to willingly go to. Unless a lot had changed since they had last checked in with the girl... Concerned about Robin and knowing that Rebecca would be fine on her own for a bit, the man made up his mind to pay her a little visit while the girls went off to do whatever it was that they were plotting to do. Fulfilling their original goals after a short trip back to the car to fetch the tasteful one piece and his swimming trunks from the oversized polka-dot beach bag in the rented two-seater, the duo split; jabbering away animatedly the two females wandered off to catch up and join the others outside after the nurse changed in the downstairs bathroom, leaving the criminal bad-boy alone with only the tidings of his other half in his pocket as he ascended the stairs to the nest of their songless pet.

Curled in the fetal position on her bed when he poked his head into the room, the girl only had to look at him before she had sprung to her feet to trap him in a mighty tear-filled bear-hug, regaling the tale of her entire summer so far without so much as a word of prompting, although having been stuck listening to the prattle before these newest mental and emotional injuries, he surmised that it had been watered down for time constraints. During the narrative he had been polite enough to keep the eye-rolls to a minim (it was hard to listen to teenage drama and take it seriously after living the life he had so far) and his mouth remained a line nearly the entire time, but once he had been caught-up, Billy didn't spare any punches. "Are you done with your eternal bitching now? I already told you that you can't force it and that if anything's going to happen it'll happen in its own time, so instead of wasting my breath, I'm just going to point out that you survived for a reason, and that since you're still young you should be using that time to honor your brothers and friends. Suck it up and enjoy the remainder of your childhood with your family, because that window is closing around you faster than you can imagine. Hell, if it'll help you keep your mind off of that guy," Robin had not said it in so many words or dropped an identity by name, but it was only painfully obvious who the girl was mooning over, "I'll even escort you. _After_ you take a shower to clear your mind first, because you reek, nerd." Smiling at the honest guidance, the young lady knew that it was a term of endearment brought on by her frames. "Deal?" Beaming wildly at her friend Robin had agreed, and then Chris came into the picture and flipped the entire script on them all...

Frosted glass with a blocky, pixelated floral theme - the pitfalls of living in a house occupied largely by females - the off-white covering was almost blurry like a lake ever in fluctuation due to the cool blue tile behind the tub and porcelain throne beside it, the matching bench-like chair looking more like a discolored hunk of rotting wood than almost blending in seamlessly. Remodeled shortly before the last family had moved in, it was truly a sight to behold in its prime, but now that it had been subjected to the abuse of whoever came prior and two adults and three girls, one of whom was now in her late teens, it strongly resembled a wreck. Sprayed here and there as it pleased, little flecks of mud and paint and glitter and whatever else you could possibly imagine were sprinkled willy-nilly, somehow immune to the sterile scrubbing of man and woman alike; quivering strawberry trails of various shampoos and soaps left their own mark on the otherwise spotless walls, adding to the sentiment and greatly deducting from the buyers market. Silver and hard as the rest of the room's color palette, the metal snake protruded from a low-hanging bar so even the shortest could move it to their preferences, a dial just under the cusp to control the ebb and flow of the water, but on that day the athlete had barely even bothered to tweak the coils to her personal specifications as she had the real deal by her side. Kathy would probably cry for weeks if she knew what her oldest was up to on the bench where the entire family had doubtless taken it in turns to sit and prune under the adjustable shower head, and if Barry had found them together in that very moment, the drain water would have turned scarlet with blood. If they had even understood what it was that their big sister had been in the middle of, they certainly would have been scarred for life, but as it was they shouldn't have had the foggiest, even if they stumbled in by chance, so in all actuality Moira and Polly would have only whined at the waste of water and whatever else they thought they saw.

Warm, slick, and dripping wet with more than water, ordinarily Robin herself wouldn't have cared which bathroom she had bathed in so long as she came out clean, but just this once the girl didn't play the apathetic card and was happy that it had been the upstairs, since the bench was so sturdy and able to hold their combined weight as Chris plopped them down, her knees rebounding from the flat surface. Well aware that they weren't the only people in the house at the time - Billy had better not be snooping through the magpie's loot! - the young woman had done her utmost to keep her voice down, and yet the jock was not worried in the least about that slapping boink or any of the adjustments it had taken for him to get used to her weight in his arms (it was hardly much of a stretch of the imagination to guess that the bird was heavier than Valentine). No, the only part that hurt was the part that ripped both of their hearts out, and that was the heartache of knowing that it must end, all traces of their love-making erased even in their own minds. In hindsight it might have been better if they had tried to put it behind them, but they had both made the decision to remember and cherish every moment, promising themselves first as she was cradled in the soldier's lap with her dark head nuzzled against his bare chest to hear the synchronized beating of his heart, fingers curling loosely against the crook of his neck. He didn't say it out loud, but she could tell by the set of his shoulders that Chris stared down at the woman in his arms with a rarely-known peace, thinking to himself that this was exactly what he had hoped it would be, only better somehow. Or maybe that was just the projection of her own feelings. Either way, they spent a long while just basking in the afterglow, clinging to the other with a kind of reluctant desperation, breaths still coming ragged as they recuperated in the arms of their lover, neither wanting the moment to end yet still aware that it was inevitable that they would eventually have to split and become two bodies once more. More than unfair, it had taken three years for this moment to come and them to become one, and who knew when this chance would come again.

"Chris," Before Robin would have had so many questions she would have wanted to ask now that the moment for proper speech had returned, from 'what happens now?' to 'will we ever doing something like this again?' and everything in between, but that was during the reign of her cruel other mother, back when life was so much different. Now she was almost a whole new person, and the young lady had been taught the hard way to distinguish between the lines of clinginess and being an easy little strumpet, among other things, so all there was now was to attempt what she considered in her limited experiences to be a fair compromise between the two, "can we just sit like this a bit longer?" In her mind the teen inquired further about the fate of this fairytale, if the princess got her knight and her happily ever after, or if the royal met with a worse outcome, although because the female was partially loath to see the pages deplete into blank spaces she didn't voice any of those questions, plus it would have made her sound like a naive little kid wishing for a repeat button after the death of their parents. The moment couldn't last forever, but that didn't mean she had to be ready for that bitter expiration, wishing that if this was to be the first and last time that they could steal just a few more seconds like that. "Two wasn't enough for the greedy child in me I guess," Drawing back from him with the greatest of reluctance so they could both get a better view of the other, the bird frowned with her eyes as well as her lips, "was it really enough for you? Please tell me now if it's really so bad to want to hold on. Is it?"

Maybe it was a truly horrible thing to do considering what the consequences could entail, or even the untold toll it might extract from the very beginning, but despite the pain of knowing that this would mean lying to those closest to the heart, there was no indecision about his druthers because now knowing what he had been missing this entire time in Robin, Chris was tenacious that mo more time should be wasted between them. Unbidden as he tightened his grip on her in response to her doubts, their lips brushed soft and sweet, meeting in a cascade of feelings heralded by a kind of love shared between the best of friends, the dregs of all negative connotations shrunken away into nigh nothingness, like a stronger usher than the lust that rode shotgun. In that one embrace, they both knew that it was going to be impossible to pretend that this moment never happened, that from that point on all moments spent alone together would always be high-risk so long as the embers burned hot, and most importantly they discovered that at least for now, it would be quite the task to hide all of this from everyone else, especially Barry.

_Barry_. Realizing with a pang what this would do to her relationship with her father once he discovered the truth of her romance, her stomach squirmed uncomfortably as it tried out for the Russian circus with a series on intricate back-flips, fueled by the terror of being disowned and abandoned, virtually un-adopted from the family and life that had come to mean everything to her. Imagining life without her mother and sisters, waking up in a room cold and confined as an undersized cardboard box on the side of the street, no love and no hugs and zero morning grumbles as they all scrambled about in kind of happy, comforting chaos (if such a feat was even thinkable) would the discovery mark the end end of her relationship with her dad and family? Would the price for loving one be the affection of the other? Would this whole otherwise magical time in her life truly be marred with lingering flutters of guilt and whatever else came with such a brutal betrayal? Robin treasured both pilots above all else in this living world, so the thought of having to chose just one was unbearable! Yet the uplifting swelling sensation threating to blow her chest to pieces just from being so close to Chris was nearly enough in that moment to drive all other unwelcome thoughts from her mind, almost; even with the bad brewing in the background, the young woman sincerely hoped that just being in the soldier's proximity would continue to bring this most splendid feeling.

Brimming to the point of overflowing with this natural euphoria as well (and that elation was not just the increased sensitivity of a newly wakened python, although that excitability was coming up between them too), Chris could relate perfectly to the woman still draped in his arms, a mix of the child she had cast aside when they became one and this strange new lover just waiting to be tested and explored in their own sweet time. Time would be cruel to them so long as they remaind, there was little doubt of that, but at this moment, it was all theirs and just leaking between the spaces in their fingers like sand as they wove the miniature limbs together in a perfect and impregnable net. They had all the time in the world in that last ticking minute, and yet they both knew that it was also time to move on and join the others least flags get raised amongst the tocking, so sharing just one more kiss - a kiss that actually became more than one and multiplied rapidly without an end in sight - the couple had no choice but to break apart for real this time. In theory it would have been possible if only for the reason that they both knew it would be temporary, the split likely to have been brought on the wings of a playful smirk and a joke with dirty undertones if it wasn't blatantly pornographic, but for many reasons that outcome was impossible... Perhaps once things had settled back down and the beast had been vanquished once more it might have been in the realm of possibility, but until that time came, they would just have to wait for Robin to not-so-kindly point out that if he stayed any longer she'd never get clean, because even if they did try, something told her that he wouldn't be using soap to wash her back. He had to agree even before the words were so much as a half-formed concept in the mind.

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><p>Author's Notes: Urgh, is it just me or does this chapter feel rushed or glossed over, or something to that effect? I hope it's just me being too hard on myself, but considering everything, I have to wonder. This chapter really was a horrible beast to write: first I couldn't figure out how or where to start, then I decided on a time skip, but then that seemed too long a time and too much was skipped, so I went back again to something closer to my first idea. Funny how the first idea is some times (but not always) the best idea. I am glad though that I decided to go this route, although I do have to wonder if maybe I'm not reading too much <em>Song of Ice and Fire<em>. Maybe it's just me, but I picture Billy to trust very few individuals, and even with a seal of approval, he would still be hesitant to socialize. The styling of the door is what I consider to be a nod to the original graphics of the first games. Oh, the nineties! And when Claire is asking Rebecca about her dress, there's a nod to _Devil May Cry_. Yep, lots of nods. ^^

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU **hooray4natasha**! I can't even begin to express how much I appreciate the reviews and conversation! So thank you so much for reviews 1-4! If anyone sees any typos, please let me know so I can remedy them straight away, thanks!

Music: "Secret Lovers" by Color Me Badd. This chapter was not an easy one to write, so instead of finding the music later, I looked sooner, and I'm glad that I did, because I not only found the perfect song, but a song that I now totally love! So far as the title goes, it's pretty ironic because one of my very first thoughts when putting things together was the song "Secret Lovers", only it was the _Atlantic Starr_ version, which I was reluctant to use because it felt too obvious and kinda cliché. Again, really happy that I looked for alternatives and found this one!

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	15. Black Widow

Deploying the soldier to any other part of the house he could desire during the intermission, Robin had sent Chris away for the remainder of her shower to await her return, relying strongly on the assumption that her room was too obvious a place and way too suspicious if the wrong person saw him coming or leaving, with or without her in his company. Especially if Claire was still on the prowl for her sibling and his side of things, lurking in every passing shadow and creeping through the hallways like some sort of humanoid creature with only one single-minded purpose. Yikes if she got a hold of either of them now that the plan had been abandoned and the irrevocable course of action taken more than once. At any rate, redhead aside, everyone from Polly to Carlos knew that scary Billy Coen only had eyes for their sweet little Rebecca Chambers, so there was no question of the ex-marine every straying - the very same could be said of her as well, now that the dust had settled and the score tallied - yet after that nasty yet innocent business with the mercenary in the pantry, the songbird thought it would be in poor taste for the knife-fighter to be a part of any situation that might make her honest intentions appear dubious. In a perfect world one would imagine that their sexy shower romp had driven home the point that the athlete only had eyes for the fighter, but passion had such a sway on the human mind as to make a person do crazy things, and it being that fiery warm season of impulsiveness probably only served to increase that intensity, so extra caution wouldn't have hurt anything.

Had the newly-made woman not had her mind in the clouds and wrapped every other which way, it would have been an undeniable boon on her part if she had been forthcoming with the truth that her friend was sitting in her room the last she knew, only lingering for her own emotional benefit (and maybe a bit out of wishing to postpone such large-scale social interaction). As the cruel writer of their fate would have it, it did not occur to the teen to just drop even a simple warning that there might be someone in her bedroom already, so Chris was met with quite the surprise when he strolled in cautiously, mind still trying to play catch-up while also being weary of what he might discover about the girl that he didn't yet know. "Billy!?" Sprawled out on the floor as he went through the worn pile of pamphlets, the other male jerked his head up, shocked to hear a voice that didn't belong to the child, hands letting fall a leaflet on the particularly favored Ivy University. "What are you doing here?!" In that moment Chris didn't care how rude he sounded as he incredulously repeated himself, "What the hell are you doing in here?!"

Glowing nearly as dark as two pits of steaming coal fresh in the fire, sepia met with umber in a sudden one-sided clash of anger and outrage; in Chris' mind, this was that morning repeated, the mending pink wounds reopened a rich, unhealthy scarlet and dramatically worsened by the needlessly painful additions of salt and overly-ripe lemon juice. Maybe titles weren't thrown into the picture just yet, but the tender way that the bird fluttered between vulnerability and devilish affection was a shade too intimate to not justify the mental claim that Robin was his woman now, her words - both the verbal and unspoken - like promises true. Maybe it was only the soldier that felt that the act of giving herself over so completely was tantamount to branding the girl more than just a friend, all of the love between them tangible for that one fleeting second before the water had washed it away, but in that moment he held her in his arms after, for that zenith of time and space when they were the only two beings alive in existence, he could tell that she felt it too, even if only in that instant. With every fiber of his being Chris wanted to believe that Robin was his and his alone, so seeing Billy here made the pilot wonder if teen wanted the same, or if this was just where the line started for a go on some cheap amusement park ride - Robin wasn't that girl, but the convict's presence at this time was so unwelcome and sudden it made the soldier wonder if he didn't have the whole situation wrong. _No_, his stomach twisted and turned as it kicked out in defiance,_ Robin is the woman you fell for, and like before he is just a friend of hers. You're stupid for getting so worked up over nothing - don't you remember what happened with Jill?_ Shutting down that annoying yet oddly comforting voice in the back of his head, Chris could remember all too well what had happened with Jill, how he had been afraid of loving her too much that she would get sick of him. No, he wouldn't make that mistake again!

Familiar enough with the other serviceman to figure out easily enough that this was an obnoxious obstacle to find that he wouldn't be alone in the room - who only knows what the former officer's intention was, if their mutual friend was aware of this present yet, or even if she was supposed to ever know, since Chris was noticeably empty-handed as he just barged in - the grin that had been Redfield's face evaporated before their gazes locked. On one hand it was no great secret that the girl's dearest wish somehow involved Chris and a more mature setting, so it could have been that this was just the teen's low ambitions come true, but observing Claire's words and Robin's reactions that had't been a reality yet, although this could have been that magical moment the adolescent was so foolishly dreaming of. If it was that impossible reversal of probability, Billy knew that he should do something one way or another to protect the girl or allow her this brief happiness, however it was so unlikely that it would happen he was still partially in shock; sure he had humored her fantasies and had even encouraged the kid, but from what the criminal did know about their circumstances, this shouldn't have happened until years down the line. Either way, it couldn't have been any more clear that this wasn't the teen finally back from her shower - while Billy could appreciate trying to wash away all of the blood on her hands and what happened because of it, he had to wonder just how damn long it took a girl to clear her mind and get clean: unless she had been with Chris this entire time...

Dawning cold gray and slow to settle in, it occurred to the technical eldest male in the area of the walled estate that something powerful was on the way to happening betwixt the soldier and the bird, something physical that couldn't be taken back and that would create such a deep bond that neither might ever find the core root of that depth, if it hadn't transpired already. "I'm waiting for Robin so I can take her to her family down at the river. What are _you_ doing here?" Attempting to discern if anything had indeed happened between the duo, Billy saw no problems in treating the teen like a small babe ferried between bitterly divorced parents; Rebecca and he both knew that the jock had come from a home that was less than perfect, so it wasn't that far of a stretch to imagine the scenario. "I'd be careful if I were you - she has a strong support system now, and when it comes to guys just looking for an in they'll find out just how strong." Billy scrutinized Chris with a keen eye that refused to miss anything, recalling a time not so long ago when their roles had been reversed and the girl in question had been Rebecca. Not seeing any schemes for shenanigans or worse, the almost paternal figure surmised that the athlete could become a fatal attraction in the future, especially with her first love if it was to ever be granted (which apparently it had been by some crazy or cruel force), so the jailbird felt he owed some kind of courtesy that would also double as a warning, "You might be her best friend, but remember who knew her the longest - I know that that child really loves you, more than logic can explain. Sure, she'll listen to you now, but nothing lasts forever." More blunt than that, Mr. Coen didn't feel quite right leaving his meaning so veiled, so he elaborated, "Robin's a high-risk all-or-nothing sort of girl, so you had better be ready to face those consequences. If not, she might just make you sorry."

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><p>Author's Notes: I'm not saying that Rebecca cheated on Billy (assuming that they were a couple at the end of Zero), but I do think that in the Umbrella Chronicles there night have been a blooming romance between her and Richard. Note I do say blooming, since it just might have been strictly professional and just wanting to look out for her. Though I wasn't sure if it was something Chris would do or not, I thought about making him and Billy get into it at the beginning of the chapter, but writing it out the scene evolved in a way that I thought better of it. *Sigh* another short chapter. Well I like this one, and I stand by it!<p>

Once more, thank you so much **hooray4natasha**! The reviews are so lovely! As for the other non-readers and handful of viewers, I'm a big girl now, I can take the reviews! Hopefully there won't be any flames thrown my way though, since I asked for it...

Music: "Black Widow" by Iggy Azalea ft Rita Ora. Starting this chapter I had a different song in mind, but ultimately I wound up juggling some things around and here we are, you readers with this instead and me still with the line-up I was playing with prior, albeit slightly mixed now. Personally I'm only just slightly familiar with Iggy's music, but besides being stuck in my head these past two days now it answered my call to arms. Anyways, to me this song not only hits what Billy is talking about but also kind of echoes (is echoes the right word for what I mean?) what Chris is afraid of. Maybe you all will have different opinions about that, but I'm just explaining my own reasons for using this track.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	16. Legendary Lovers

Sparkling like a true diamond with over a thousand polished faces, the North Star shone the most radiant bar none, its eternal companion a close enough second from even this kind of distance to elicit a sappy sigh of appreciation from all the romantics and devoted astronomers alike; the velvety sky was a thick blanket of viscid midnight that could scarcely hope to cover the niveous brilliance of the stars, but the earthly splatters of neon paint and effervescent gunpowder was doing a fair job of robbing the attention from the ancient celestials. Gathered around the barren field that used to be someone else's private lands before falling to the wayside and being reclaimed by Mother Nature herself, Moira and Polly weaved through the group as fast as their legs could carry them in their excitement, Carlos grinning to see that his little gift had gone over well with everyone. Shimmering like liquidized crystal, the gauzy cerulean shawl draped across Jill's shoulders blotted away the deep indigo bathing attire, the refined fabric crinkling as she leaned a majority of her full weight against her man, head cradled on his muscular tanned shoulder as she absorbed the polychromatic display above, although they were hardly the only couple to be close in the warm night air. Barry and Kathy stood arm-in-arm as they admired the breathtaking sights, missing virtually everything else as they were transported back to a time they had nothing but the other; Billy and Rebecca were laced together so tightly it was almost impossible to tell where one body began and the other ended in the flashing semi-darkness; even Chris and Robin were taking their chances. Missing her own other half due to events that couldn't be undone by a rest button and clad in one of her brother's old flannel shirts to guard from the chill permeating the rising layer of heat, Claire stood back further from the rest to get a more unobstructed view of the entire bruised sky, savoring the sight of the twinkling lights beyond and the deafening bangs and blasts of the fireworks. That was the excuse she gave, but in actuality the view hadn't been the sole reason behind choosing one of the uneven stacks of earth for the show; ever since that morning - and she did mean after noon, since the pair had not made a reappearance until lunch, which thanks to a rather mischievous raccoon and an unexpected arrival had been an hour and a half late - Chris had been acting strangely different, and for that matter so was Robin.

Swearing up and down to all she loved just that morning that the jock had schemed up a way to let Chris down easy so that the family wouldn't have to get involved, Robin had promised that she would extinguish the fire before it was so much as lick of mellow sherbet, but obviously something major had happened between then and now because the way they were acting was off, and not in a way to suggest that there had been a split, amicable or otherwise. Ordinarily the auburn-haired minx would have been the first to declare what a great guy her brother was (and also she would have been the first to point out when he was being an ass, an idiot, or a brainless jerk), but in all her time the young woman could not once recall ever seeing the soldier getting the chair for any woman, and that was just the beginning! Not stupid by any means, the graduate had put two and two together by the time that the house was completely empty for the post-lunch swim at the waterhole further down the east bank - Claire was hardly the only one there to piece it together by that point - and as such she confronted Robin about going back on her word. It was one thing for them to carry on with the puke-worthy display of googly-eyes in the open where everyone could see, but for the teen to have pledged to take one action and then to show quite another in the same day just proved that she couldn't be trusted in the least! Honestly, if he wasn't so busy thinking with his dick (which even she had to admit that Robin had a rather curvy backside), would the soldier still have been so quick to trust in a little oath-breaking liar when she spun her webs in his head and wove sweet imagery of what could be? If the damned girl couldn't even find it in herself to try keep a promise she had made the same day she broke it, what on earth made him think she'd even keep the smallest of vows at this rate?! It was safe to assume that come dinner Claire had made up her mind on what she thought about Robin - all other conclusions prior be damned - and it wasn't a very encouraging verdict overall, or a review that anyone whose last name was Burton would want to hear.

Yet while Claire only saw the gnawing negatives and falsehoods of the burgeoning romance, the others had witnessed the potential and unadulterated affection that could never be faked, not even in a hundred lifetimes of the world's most talented actor; once the shiny new honeymoon phase had ended, the secrecy itself was nearly enough to finish the couple off before too long, so until that time the polite thing to do would be to just allow them that invisible curtain. All but dancing for joy that the duo could find their bliss, Carlos was all a titter and mentally patting himself on the back for a job well done, since he credited himself for giving the last push those two needed to take that natural next step in their friendship (plus a taken Chris guaranteed that there would be one less opponent for the lovely Jill). True, the dashing merc agreed heartily that Chris and Robin belonged together anyways, but the voice that clamored the longest was actually that of the master of unlocking - Valentine knew Chris better than most, and though the child was another matter, the female soldier could just see something in his eyes when he gazed at that girl, something that hadn't been there when they were a thing. It was there in his eyes now, even as they gathered in the open with the biggest foreseeable hurdle of their relationship present, and what was more was that the kid was returning that love, and Jill knew for a fact in that moment that it was more than she herself ever could have given to Chris, because their love just wasn't that sort of love. Truthfully there was a small bite in her chest to realize that, but Jill was genuinely behind that coupling as she only wanted the best for her partner and for him to be happy, and he seemed over the moon with this little bird; having said that though, the brunette wasn't exactly enthralled by the notion of her dearest comrade dating a minor (it didn't matter to her that the girl's eighteenth birthday was looming just around the corner).

As Billy and Rebecca could attest from personal experience - the differences in their birth dates just as terrible on paper - age was nothing but a number and it was what was inside the heart that mattered most, not profession or legal status, but it wasn't quite the same for them since the medic had at least been eighteen at the time they had met. Watching them the entire day, the falsely convicted murderer was convinced that while there would be a long, hard road before the couple it was rather nice to see the smile lighting Robin's face, the internal tattletale glow radiant even when she wasn't with the solider, although in fairness that could have just been the beadwork and sequins on the crocheted ivory mesh they were trying to pass off as a bikini. Rebecca, on the other hand, was rather quiet on the subject as if she was none the wiser, but it had been her who had pointed out after lunch that Robin looked like she was walking a bit funny. Thankfully she had more tact than to mention it in front of the girl's family, but there was no hint of subtly about her when she made the connection, Claire, Jill, and Carlos all within earshot as the medic turned to her date and asked his take. Part of him had to wonder if maybe there was a twinge of something like jealousy there (if there was, it was more along the lines of not being the only lucky child to be saved by the graces of love), but knowing the nurse the way he did, Billy figured that it had been more in the order of concern, at least he hoped that that was all it was. Watching the dazzling cartwheels of vivid blues and expressive greens with a small smile on his otherwise composed countenance, the thought of his lady dearest being interested in any other guy had been pushed from his mind, all focus instead on the source of his shared whispers with his partner.

"So should we tell them now?" Excited to the point of bursting about the news they were sitting on and scarcely able to contain herself for even a moment more, Rebecca had mostly listened to what others had to say that day, because she and Billy had talked about it for a long, long time now, and they wanted to wait for the best possible moment to drop this monumental moment in their lives. Even Billy was giddy about it, in his own reserved way. Hmm, in truth there were still times when the medical officer wondered what kind of a person her beloved was before his sentencing and incarceration, if he was always so calm and mysterious, or if he was light and made jokes more than he should have, but when she pondered she only allowed herself a brief minute to dream of it, as she loved the person he was now. "I don't think I can hold back anymore! Please Billy, let me tell them, please!" Smirking at her in that deviously impish way he had, that very grin half of what had won over her heart in the first place, the man nodded his consent that it was indeed time, clearing his voice to get the attention of the others (making Chris and Robin spring apart quickly so that her parents didn't see as they turned around to stare at the former marine). They both knew that if Billy had given the speech it would have been short, filled with a pause or two, so he handed the reigns over to Rebecca, plus it was more fitting that she tell her friends anyways, "We have an announcement to make," groping for his hand, the nurse beamed more at her lover than at anyone else, and Claire thought to herself that it should have been Chris and Robin making the big scene as they confessed to everyone their crimes. "As you all know we've been together for a long time now, and we've been talking about it for months now... and... we bought a house together!"

Thunder and joy incarnate, the teen was clapping the hardest and the loudest out of the assemblage, rushing to embrace both of her friends in turn as the words sunk in, kindly showering them in congratulations and the best of wishes; Barry and Kathy and everyone else swarmed in behind her not long after, leaving Chris no other choice but to save her by offering a hand to pull her free of the crowd, cupped extremities lingering just a second too long on her waist as he set her back down on safe land. They knew how he felt about them as a couple, and it would be so much easier to speak to them once the well-wishers had dwindled away. Besides, he was too lost in the silver hanging in the heavens viewed only by gods and lesser deities alike, twin orbs glowing like their own moons in a night storm, lips parting in a smile not entirely meant for Billy and Rebecca, "Thanks for that assist." If they had been an item longer than just this day, he might have worried about the notions this news would put in her mind, but as it was the soldier knew that he wouldn't have to fret about shopping around for a place to call their own for a while yet, although a place to meet up in secret might not have been a terrible idea. "It's about time, don't you think? Three years together is an awful long time, so its nice that they finally made another step. I wonder if they'll have time for the rest of us, now that they have their own place to do as they please." Unless Chris was very much mistaken, she was thinking exactly the same thing he was, _bow chica wow wow_.

Unseen by almost everyone else as they were still pressed in on the nurse and the convict and holding an impromptu Q and A session, the redheaded sibling turned her back on the blustering cluster and pretended to gag at her brother's antics, the faked retching motions catching Barry's watchful eye; dashing over to the young woman's side, the father bear was remarkably fast to offer a helping hand, which the female was even faster to turn down as she made a rather instant recovery, grumbling and berating Chris in her mind for making her lie twice in the same day. "No, really, I'm fine! Thanks Barry, but it was just a passing cough. I must have just inhaled too much hot air is all, but I'm good now." Glancing down at the impressionable young girls looking up at her, Claire was hit with a sudden inspiration, feeling badly for what she she was about to do to them, "I'm fine, but maybe you should explain to your daughters about how moving in with a guy is such a big deal and is definitely something that they should seriously consider before making a hasty decision that could come back to haunt them and their loved ones with unseen consequences. Even Robin should listen to your wisdom on that."

Flattered by the way that the suggestion had been phrased and always up for protecting his charming little girls from the harsh evils of the world around them by any means possible, Barry lit up at once while the two girls cringed away (escape route blocked off by their mother), Robin frowning over at Claire as she saw through the other woman's intentions as if they were made of glass. "But daddy, I wanted to make up for lost time and get some more water aerobics in for the day!" It was one thing to oppose the idea of the bird with the strong soldier in practice and out of theory, and it was only understandable that the redhead would be ticked off about how things had unfolded - as if that had been Robin's fault that Chris had just barged in on her in the bathroom! - but to pull something like this was just horrible! True, the girl should have appreciated that Claire didn't just rat the relationship out from the front gates, and that the older of the two wasn't doing everything in her power to undermine them at every corner and try to point the trail of crumbs out to her father as he bumbled along in her wake, but she had been about to make a private offer to Chris to meet her for a swim (the girls would be the only two who would have tried to go along at that juncture if only to postpone their imposed bedtime, and there was no way that their parents would allow that), and if he decided to follow miss Redfield's advice, that plan would be ruined! "And anyways, I get all that stuff already! I wouldn't enter into any old relationship willy-nilly unless I had thought it about it first." OK, so maybe that last part wasn't strictly true as everything with Chris was so instantaneous - despite the numerous times she had plotted and fantasied about it in his mind's eye - but it wasn't like her old man needed to know that.

Leave it to good ol' Barry to come up with a compromise that would equally vindicate and disappoint both parties: Claire was right in saying that all three of his daughters would benefit greatly from one of his lectures, but Robbie was also on the money for pointing out that she was already clever enough to know better than to just jump into something as long-term as a lease agreement with a member of any sex, male or female, so instead he would allow Robin an additional hour to do as she liked, on the condition that she be present for the next three lectures and offer assistance if need be. He'd find a way to make the need exist, but that was a matter to think about later. Musing to himself how sweet it was of his longtime family friend to care so much about the outcome of the next generation he was bringing up, the teen probably wouldn't be very happy about having to get sucked into participating in lessons she should already know, but either way he won since his daughter would listen and respect his rules, as she always had. Robin was a great girl and he was so proud to call that child his, but on that some token she couldn't go around thinking that she made the wind blow, because at the end of the day no one would benefit from that. "Now hang on just a minute there young lady! You can't go deciding anything yet! You're still just my baby girl-"

"I'm not a little girl anymore!" Exploding like a cracked nuclear warhead that couldn't take any more strain and acting very much a spoiled brat in that moment, Robin shrieked and snapped at her father in sparks far louder and brighter than the flowers blooming in the sky; her outburst surprised no one, least of all her beau, who understood the extent of how much she utterly despised being looked down on and reminded of her age. It didn't pardon the poor behavior in any way, but the soldier could see that a large portion of it had come from her desire to be seen as an equal adult, a smaller fraction being frustration at one of the main hindrances they'd always have to face; although on the next page of that story he could relate to Barry as well since the warrior-prince had also learned the hard way to watch what he said about her in terms of years and months. "I'm not that far off from eighteen anymore so you should stop treating me like I'm ten years old and still wetting the fucking bed! I've been through hell and back, but that doesn't mean that I'm as broken as the kid that you first met! I'm a woman now," for one fleeting second Chris was terrified that she was about to drag his name into this and out them (although in some ways that might not have been the worst possible thing), but that horror passed almost as soon as it had come, "I can make up my own mind, even if that might shock you! Urgh," the bird screamed, the resounding cry so much louder in the echoing silence between aerial fissures, "sometimes I wish that you would just butt-out and get a god-damned clue!"

Storming off in a blind dither amongst mummers of distaste before anyone else could get in a word edgewise, the bird could make out the hiss of fervent whispers just over the incoherent and stunned gaps of her father sounding off at her back as she flew the coop, mood too dark to care at the moment that she had not only humiliated Chris to those that knew better and made an ass of herself to all, but she had left a god-awful example for her sisters. The more rational side of her mind knew that she should turn heel right away and grovel for her father's forgiveness and admit that she was in the wrong, but her emotions were still running too high to listen to herself peacefully and comply. She had made a real mess of things, but the one comforting thought in her head at that moment was not the disbelief on her father's face but the knowledge that it could have been so much worse... Dammnit all, this was all wrong - tonight should have been easy, breezy, and all smiles, and to make that tight clenching knot in her stomach feel even worse she had completely stolen the attention from Billy and Rebecca! Sure, he might not have minded quite as much as the nurse would, but they didn't deserve that. No one did. But dammit, it was Claire's fault! If that crotchety bitch hadn't started it, none of this would have been happening at the moment!

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><p>Author's Notes: Originally, and when I say originally this time I mean way way back when, my plan was to have this announcement take place between Carlos and Jill, only he would have presented her with a key to his place without warning anyone else first of his intentions. For a while I pondered what to make their big mystery news, but I kept reminding myself how young Rebecca was still, so I wanted to make it a tad more practical than what I was thinking (the plans rhyme with baby, or marriage (hehe, <em>Get Him To The Greek<em>)), and so I kind of switched things all up. Or as I learned from The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations, _brown chicken brown cow_. Drama bomb!

I know that this whole story has been barely a blip on the radar of most people, but since the previous chapter was even more skimped on, I have to wonder if people didn't miss the posting of it? Its pretty short and came out just a day after the chapter before it, so I can imagine that it would have been missed, even accidentally. Anyways, happy reading! And maybe reviewing? Please?

Music: "Legendary Lovers" by Katy Perry. I've been toying with using one of her songs for the last few chapters now, leaning mostly towards either "E.T." or "Dark Horse" (personal favorites), but when I was looking for lyrics I caught this title in passing and figured I'd give it a look, and liking what I saw, I listened to it, and that sealed the decision. Now I can only hope that my projected line-up of songs/titles holds up to what's coming for the rest of the story! Well since we know from the last chapter that it had to be tailored, I suppose the more accurate statement would be that I hope it remains remotely close to the line-up I have in mind. If not though, so be it since I'm not married to the set.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	17. Juliet

Smug wasn't quite the right word for it since that would just be cruel, but Claire was greatly vindicated that she barely had to do anything to get Robin to show her brother and everyone else gathered around that rapidly darkening field what a child she still was, although all the good it did; Barry was deeply wounded and at a loss for that malicious attack, and Chris himself was just standing there, dejected and at odds (something told the redhead that reconsidering whatever set-up they made wasn't an option just yet) within himself. If any part of him was mad at her for this - and the scowl creeping across his lips like the slowest maggot to the apple told the auburn haired female that the soldier was - he was an idiot, because she was only being a good sister, trying to look out for her older brother when he was too blind to do so for himself. Standing around in the gathering gloom as Kathy gently ushered the younger two girls into leading their father back home so he could regroup and come up with a punishment befitting the crime, Chris gapped almost open-mouthed at the scene as if still trying to comprehend what had all happened, leaving his sister wanting to rip out her hair in sizable chunks by the root and scream; what couldn't he understand about the fact that his little girlfriend was a brat and was only going to hurt him?! This little fling would burn itself out sooner or later, she and anyone else worth their salt knew that that union was doomed and such a tragic shade of blue, but aside from it simply being a matter of when exactly things would sour between the friends, the young lady worried the most about what would happen to Chris when it was all said and done. Maybe someday her opinion of Robin would alter itself by the course of the bird's own actions, but until such a time as that came to pass, Claire was most concerned about her brother, because no matter what happened she loved that knucklehead.

And since she loved her dolt of a big brother so much, that mean that the redhead probably should do what she could in the meantime to support him, regardless of how misguided and foolish this whole ordeal was; setting aside her pride would be hard and accepting that this was a true thing while it ran its course would be next to impossible, but if there was one thing for the soldier Claire could do now, it would be helping to cover things up so the teen's family didn't get suspicious. It was one thing not to care much for the child and the wicked game she was playing, but it would have been quite another to just give the game away - Claire would never dream of hurting her brother in such a way, so when the secret finally leaked, it wouldn't be from her mouth. "Chris, you should go after Barry and make sure that he's alright." Doubtless her actions would require an explanation later so he didn't get the wrong impression, but for now all she could do was nudge him along after his friend and the girls, "Robin'll be fine - she just needs a minute or two to cool down, but once she's calm again she'll be right along, I promise." There could have been more to the message to be sure that Chris got her meaning, but the feminine Redfield didn't want to take any chances tipping off the rest of the family when they were all crowded around in earshot.

Having little choice in the matter between all of the expectant faces watching his every move, Chris was forced further and further away from Robin - thinking of it in terms of how it used to be and not how it was now, the soldier was primarily concerned that in this kind of a mood, the girl wouldn't be liable to listen to anyone else nor would she return to her senses anytime soon - not noticing that the party had dwindled down in gusts even further. Robin noticed, but as she was already separated from the group by that point it wasn't until a hand had fallen on her shoulder suddenly and silent as death, the careful footsteps muffled by Robin's rampaging rage and the fallen debris of the seasons. "Fuck off Chris, I'm not in the mood to-" Spinning around on her heel like the ballerina she had been trained to be, the athlete froze in place, abashed and startled to see the person that had dared to seek a resolve (and very glad that she hadn't reacted another way), "You're not Chris... Sorry Jill, I was expecting..." saying the words out loud, the girl realized just how much she had been looking forward to it being Chris, since he would have had the right thing to say to the guilty knot holding her innards hostage while the body stormed about in a gray fury, and if he didn't have the answer she needed, she could always have just taken another answer she wanted to distract herself. Relationship status aside, although the songbird wasn't completely opposed to finding solace with the same sex, something told her that Valentine would't have been so accommodating. "I just would have thought that he would have come after me, to tell me what a horrible idiot I was acting."

"I don't need to have something hanging between my legs to tell you that that was wrong how your treated your poor father back there, and anyways I think you can already see that for yourself." There was a slight scolding tone to her voice, but the accusation was rightfully placed so the girl couldn't blame the older woman (or slightly older, as thinking of Jill's age in comparison to her own reminded her of Chris and their own age gap). "Barry should be fine - Kathy and the girls are taking him back home so he can collect himself and sort it all out. Chris went with them. You can thank Claire for covering for you guys back there." Reading the scandalized look on the teen's face, Jill pressed on before a new tirade could work itself up, more than a dash of personal feeling peppering her words, "Trust me when I say that it isn't easy to see someone you love so much dating a girl you barely even know. You're a sister too, so it shouldn't be so hard for you to think abut it from her position - what if any of your siblings had brought home someone without any warning at all? Knowing of the person or not, you'd be worried about them getting hurt. It's the same for Claire."

Buttoning her beak as the flightless one did as instructed and put herself in Claire's shoes, Robin reflected for a moment about what the redhead must have been feeling at discovering the situation, but only for a brief flash of a moment faster than the blur of Fate's cruel scythe, thoughts shifting heedlessly from the present to a time not so long ago, back when her losses were still so fresh. The jock had no idea why she'd be thinking of it now of all times, but for whatever reason she could still make out the clouds rumbling dully overhead as they gathered heavily in sheets of steely soot, each lower than the last and hanging like props in a school play, dangling moodily and ready to spillover without any notice at all. A gusty breeze that still burned in memory had ruffled many a hooded coat and preemptive poncho, the damp chill it brought creeping down the back of the spine like an unfamiliar breath as the frost-bitten fingers danced across the flesh and oozed deeper than the bone itself. At that time, the melancholy weighing the orphan down had hurt worse than any cold front, and the bird could still clearly see the humanoid lump atop the hill huddled in on herself not for the warmth or protection but because of the storm that had already broken loose inside of her heart, the hunched-over figure cut predominately for the unnatural hues of color in her wardrobe. Clashing violently with the muted shades of dead grass and winterized vegetation that surrounded her, the bloodless chalk clinging so snugly to her legs it might have been a blanket of fresh snow, and the vivid glow of the opaque aquamarine sweater that had provided the only source of protection from the elements would have blinded any unfortunate animal that had popped up its head at the sound of her clunky arrival; having arrived so recently from city life, the child still had much to learn about her surroundings, including how cruel a mistress Mother Earth could be.

Not that much of anything really mattered to the barely living carcass then, since the cause of the bird's newfound situation had left many a scar on her person and an even greater sense of numbness clinging briskly to her insides; even hovering where it was, the frigid clutches of the temperature only seemed to penetrate so far past the internal layers of ice that had formed as a sort of barrier to block everything out. Dreaming of what might have been, Robin knew in her heart that if he had still been alive, Alastair - her eldest brother - probably would have scolded her for venturing so far without letting anyone know her intentions, and then he probably would have seated himself at her side with just a glance in her direction, just watching the sky if he wasn't whittling. Armas, the youngest of the four siblings and one of her closest allies in life, probably would have asked her why she had vanished from the sight of her new guardians, and assuming that he had been satisfied with her reply, would have curled himself up in her lap while listening to a story (often not of her own invention, since there had been a consensus that she was terrible at making up her own material). Onni probably wouldn't have even bothered parting from one his precious experiments to track down the younger sister he knew would eventually return - on the surface, he might have seemed to anyone else not to care, and maybe he didn't, but at least he paid enough attention to know her behavior patterns and to know that she would always return home to a warm bed and a hot meal. But it didn't matter anymore what they would have thought or done, because they were...

Dead. Every time that the young female had tried to say the word out loud - even alone in the comforts her new bedroom as she tried to come to terms with the harsh reality for her own mental well-being - it stuck in her throat, drying it out while also attempting to suffocate her windpipes; thinking the word was little better though, as that alternative often left a debilitating crushing sensation on her innards that seemed to linger for hours afterwards. A world without her brothers was one that the girl had never honestly envisioned being a part of at even her angriest of moments, and despite the sorry attendance of her father in their lives, she almost was willing to give anything to have just one more day in her old life. Perhaps seeing her mother once more would have been the harshest possible penalty, especially if the teen was to recall every moment that had happened and what was waiting for her once the magic had worn off, but recalling all the love she bore the rest of her family, the child knew what a wonderful feeling it would have been to be laughing at the same tired jokes with her friends and walking the same streets that had known her footprints so well! There were no words she could think of to even begin to describe her feelings, but at the same time, buried beneath the loss and looming teenage angst, she was truly grateful to the family that had opened their home to her; the father that had far surpassed her own by simply being there; the mother that had her own beaten hands-down in just about any category (with a few exceptions); the sisters that she was already warming up to. Of course it would still be a long time from now that the moping athlete would admit how much progress the Burtons' had made in her book, yet there was some part of her that had known from the very beginning that they were just better people.

Far better than what she deserved at any rate. Mind tracing back through the last couple of weeks as well as through various memories from her fourteen years in Raccoon City, hands vaguely aware of the biting cold as her fingers did some biting of their own (a good thing for the large amount of sweaters in the wardrobe, or else the world would have thought that the pools of blood she had brought up to the surface had been caused by someone else), the girl recalled all too well the face of true terror. Just a boy probably a few years older than Armas had been if she was honest with herself, the fragile body had been skewered across the floor like a tongue-colored piece of chewing gum that was too stubborn to stay in one place; one sneaker was still hanging from what had been left of his leg as she had ran through the scarlet smear on the warehouse floor. Sliding through the shallow puddle as she moved away from danger, the teen had regrettably slowed to stop to examine what she had slipped in - she wished she hadn't, because once she realized that the stuff coating the walls was once the mind of an innocent child, everything that had been in her stomach at that point had evacuated through her mouth. And then it had been followed by bile. The sickest part of that event wasn't that the kid had been slain by the lazy force of multiple rounds (many to the head and chest) or even that she had gotten so sick to her stomach from everything - including the rank smell - or that she had fallen to her knees close enough to the body that her hand had fallen through the imperfect halo in his midsection; no, it was the fact that she had no choice but to use the leftovers as a shield to protect herself when the monsters found a way in. He was already dead when she had discovered the corpse, but the guilt of having to further damage the shell had yet to leave her. Truth was, even three years in the future Robin still hadn't forgiven herself or forgotten just how gruesome that time was...

As a matter of fact, there was still an exorbitant amount that remained to be a burden on the teen, such as that final encounter with her mother before that final escape to safety, and the memories of the team of mercenaries that had brought her to the wretched woman; at least the way they acted and dressed, they seemed to be mercs, but in hindsight, they were probably Umbrella employees, just like her mother had been. Unable to face that part of her journey as she stared out over the hill - the other nightmares of Raccoon City had seemed like a sweet dream compared to the horrors that the jock had endured just before her rescue - the girl thought she would be able to say the status of her biological family before that lovely set of issues could be resolved, that her father and brothers were never going to come back to her again. If it ever got resolved... The therapy was helping, but there was only so much others could assist with... Turning around to look back at the small grove that surrounded the wide expanse of the lone hill she had claimed for her own, Robin's gray eyes could just make out a sliver of the blue-brown ribbon that had been frosted-over since last week; it was a shame that it was currently winter, because that would have been a very pleasant place to take her mind off of things for a while. Hearing that the Burton family had resided in a far-off plot of land before she had been brought to her new wardens, the teen panicked and thought about what might happen in that kind of solitude (thanks to family night and that damned Onni for his rabid love of horror), but on the other hand, this spot right here was ideal for all kinds of activities for its beauty and natural attractions alone. Perhaps in the green heat of summer, assuming that she had yet to make any friends her own age to spend the time, the bird would plan a rendezvous with the family, and maybe some of their friends if there was room and time enough to accommodate. Hell, even if she did have chums her own age by that point, who was to stop her from planning multiple excursions out here? It was probably a good sign that she was looking ahead at the future.

"Robin! Where are you, little birdy?" Just a short distance away and doubtless somewhere outside of the grove, a gentle voice originating from Venus called out to her; it was more of a general curiosity than panic tinting the sweet timbre, so the clever child could tell that there wasn't a frantic search for her whereabouts just yet, which was good as she hadn't exactly meant to scare anyone by her disappearing act. "Robin, are you out here?" Originally the teen had gone out there for the solitude, but there was a dowie crispness creeping over her that had little to do with the cold, so the company would be most welcome at this point, and besides, she hadn't really gotten much chance to interact with Jill yet, and the woman friend of her new father's seemed like a good sort, so this was a good opportunity. "If you're out there somewhere, Barry wanted me to tell you that dinner will be ready in another thirty minutes, and Kathy wanted to make sure you were wearing your mittens out here." If Moira and Polly had left Robin any messages, the officer hadn't seen enough merit in them to bother reciting the words.

Answering the summons before she was left alone once more to stew in the misery and descend deeper into madness - half disappointed that there was so little time left to mourn and pout and just be alone with her undisturbed yet traumatic thoughts - the jock stood up reluctantly and waved her arms to get Jill's attention, "Hey, I'm here! Over here!" As expected of someone with her kind of military training - not to mention the fact that the woman had also survived Raccoon City, and from what the bird had overheard in passing, a similar experience three months before that - Jill made it over the stagnantly trickling stream without any kind of problem. "That kind of skill is exactly why Al..." Catching herself about to bring up her oldest brother and the desire he had to join the army when he had come of age, Robin quickly altered her path mid-sentence, "You've got some serious skills, that much is for sure. I tripped on a rock that poked out just in front of the stream." Moving her arms from around her knees, the girl showed the woman a dark, muddy splotch on her pants.

Pleasantly surprised to find that the teen was in a talkative mood - and even more so that the young sapling would want to chat with someone older than twenty and who wasn't directly responsible for saving her life - the former officer who owed this girl's guardian a great life debt smiled sweetly as she approached and took a place nearby, "I can manage well enough on my own, but I wouldn't be here talking to you now without Chris and Barry. Speaking of your guardian, I spoke to Carlos a few days ago - he was wondering how you were holding up." Carlos Oliveira - a flirtatious ex-member of the UBCS that had escaped Raccoon City as well - had indeed asked of how Robin fared amongst his many inquires (not all of which pertained to their fellow escapee), but the woman felt as if some of the topics he attempted to pursue were inappropriate, so she chose to dilute his words. "He seemed to be checking up on all of us survivors-" at least all the ones that were decidedly female, "-and since he knew I'd be visiting, he wanted me to ask. So how are you holding up?"

Suspecting that while that might have been true that Carlos wanted to know, there was large portion of her words that were veiled - Jill, like the rest of their circle of peers, was worried about each of the survivors, and that concern only deepened with the deduction of years - and that Valentine herself was curious to know how the girl was doing after suffering such costly personal casualties. It was understandable, but still irksome. "Besides just wanting some time by myself, someplace where I'm not constantly being watched by a pair of eyes, I'm dealing." Thinking back to the cramped confines of the carrier that whisked so many of them to safety on the bleak dawn horizon, the teen vividly recalled a mini-skirted Jill coming up to sit at her side as soon as she had been picked up, leaving Carlos crestfallen and stuck next to the curled-up figure of Rebecca Chambers. Viewing him as a replacement for her older brother as they were carried into the new day Robin had been resting her head on Billy Coen's shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly to his left limb; at the time she had been too affected to say anything about the kind away she had been approached and treated during that flight, but the girl really was grateful for the assurances that they were really in good hands and on the way to safety. "I never did thank you for back then, did I? In my defense, there was so much going on and I-"

Unbearable enough without the nuke hot on their heels, it was the least she could do for the obvious first-time flier, and anyways the brunette didn't want to send the little bird twittering away so soon into the conversation, not to mention the fact that there was no desire in her entire being to bring up a time that was still upsetting for everyone, so the woman grown shook her head lightly, nonetheless pleased to hear the honest gratitude still so thick on the tongue, "You don't have to say anything about that. Have you gotten the chance to fly any since?" Interested in the mechanics of how metal could fly from long ago, having to ride that helicopter out of the danger zone had admittedly made the girl even more curious about flight; Barry had picked up on said interest rather quickly, and as such had done what he could to foster that spark. Initially he had started out by buying her a couple of books on the subject, but her appetite proved insatiable, so it wasn't long before he had advanced to booking classes for the girl - she had no idea yet, but he was even planning on surprising her with an actual visit to a nearby landmark (which included a rather difficult nature hike). Robin might not have known, but pretty much everyone else did. "Barry talks all the time about wanting to take you back up into the air."

"Between how busy I'm being kept?" Borderlining on smug to hear that, the girl thought of how she had been the first of his girls to take up an interest in the skies, but at the same time there was also an underlying edge to her voice as she spoke of being constantly supervised in and out of school, yet underneath even that there was a rush of gratitude for being so occupied by cogs and diagrams and questions that she couldn't dwell on the past, "If only." Sensing that the atmosphere was miming the pendulous sky above, the teen shook her head and sighed deeply, "I just wish that things made sense, that I was whole and didn't have to think about everything that happened..." Trailing off, she was compelled to ask a question that had been burning inside for quite a while now, "Jill, does it... Does it ever end? I mean, will I ever be able to call myself normal?" Gathering from the look on the other female's face that she hadn't conveyed her meaning, Robin tried again. "People treat me like I'm made of glass, and sometimes I believe that it's really true... I have days, moments even, where I want help, and then other times I just..." Entire days went by that she just couldn't cope with her internal struggles, but everyone had her magnified to such a degree that the songbird had it in her mind that she couldn't give them the pleasure of being so right, so she would bottle it up inside, hoping that when the bottle finally overflowed, no one would be around. "I just need to know that there will be a day I can smile."

If she were to be truly honest, Jill herself was still fighting to find that blissful clarity Robin spoke of, but as an adult that was being looked up to for answers, it wouldn't be very productive for any of them if the girl had a setback at the moment, especially one that might have been preventable, so the woman was careful to chose her words, "Life is precious, defined by our ups and our downs. How you overcome the bad is what helps to shape the good, and since you have to have both good and bad to appreciate the true value of something like life, it stands to reason that a lot of good will be coming your way. I know for a fact that you coming into Barry's life has brought one of those ups that's unbeatable by most other experiences." Parenthood really was a high that could only be ended by one ultimate low, but the love that Barry and Kathy so plainly had for their girls, even death seemed to pale by comparison.

Biological clock ticking just loud enough to begin to seriously ponder that part of the next decade or so, the woman hugged herself tight against a particularly huffy gust of wind, the navy-blue jacket adding a burst of added warmth as the wool was pressed into her arms and body; Jill's boyfriend had become her ex even before the end of days - although that hadn't stopped her any from trying to warn him about what could happen - and whatever was going on with her and Chris was still uncertain, but that hadn't stopped the officer from thinking about her distant future, about a family of her own. Emotionally she wasn't ready just yet for that kind of added responsibility, and that worked for her since she was so focused on bringing the Umbrella Corporation down for their various atrocities, but someday, yeah, it might have been nice to be called someone's mother. Time made it an issue only if they stayed together, but despite the closeness he shared with his sister and friends, Chris really made it quite clear that he didn't want any kids of his own, which was frankly shocking to find out, although on some levels it really did make sense. Jill could only imagine that being a teenager and having to look after a younger sister really affected his attitude towards becoming a father. Well they were still in their mid-twenties, so it was too early to think about that anyways, and besides, who knew what the future had in store.

"So can you see now why its so hard for Claire to accept that your with Chris?" Breaking through the fogs of time, the Jill of the present looked at Robin as best she could through the darkness, arms folded close to her body to ward away the night air, "You're still just a kid to us, and Chris is Chris, so its going to take a lot of work for all of us to get used to it, but in the meanwhile can you see why?" If she had to, Jill would even explain to the bird what it meant to her personally to see her ex moving on at long last, but something told the brunette that the bird was intelligent enough to get that message without having to get into it all, so she carried on as if she had seen the nod of consent, "Just keep that in mind when you two get around other people. Oh," Valentine suddenly recalled one last piece of advise she wanted to impart on the girl before departing, pulling out a small box of blank yellow pills and bestowing it to the new girlfriend who was hopefully better at managing inventory than Chris had been, "and here, if you don't have any of your own. They're kinda old now, but Rebecca told me that they should still do their job."

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><p>Author's Notes: Hands-down this is the longest chapter I've written for the story so far! The flashback sequence in this chapter was actually a section I wrote weeks (if not months) ago, so hopefully it gels well enough with the rest of the chapter! And yes, those were some kind of plan bmorning after/birth control type of pills, because the "inventory" Jill was referring to was condoms. If you are in any way familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you'll see a nod to _Guardians of the Galaxy_, in particular a quote from Gamora.

Thanks once more **hooray4natasha**, I'm in your debt for all the praise you've given me and this story!

Music: "Juliet" by Emilie Autumn. More than the previous comparison of Robin, the very first really jumped out at me. Yep, I can actually be happy as I say that my projected list had be changed yet again! As vexing as it can get trying to find the perfect song, I really like putting in that work, and pre-planning the set stole that away from me, so I'm really glad that it worked out this way!

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	18. One Thousand Apologies

Aphotic and wintry, the nebulous water ripped apart the argent specks glittering across the dusky night sky as great rolls and ripples broke the otherwise calm surface; lingering below the tainted jade depths, bare toes brushing the slimy overcoat of moss and lichen as graceful legs propelled the body alongside the steady current, the form of a woman reveled in the freedoms of aquatic life. Gliding past a school of undersized trout on the wings of the wild, the scarred survivor thought to herself that there was nothing like a good swim to clear the mind and help put things in perspective, such as the decision to pass along protection to an underage teen girl rising high on hormones and the dream of love - they were doubtless going t do it at some point anyways, and this way they would be safe, but was it really her place to condone the union? In truth it probably wasn't the female soldier's place in the slightest, but since Chris wasn't the best at remembering to pack munitions (ironic, given what they did professionally), and Robin often times needed to bring a grocery list with her when shopping so she didn't forget half of what she was sent for (as the brunette had seen with her own two eyes), someone had to step up to the plate to be sure that all possible safety precautions were put in place, unless they wanted to end up with an accidental pregnancy on their hands. Jill couldn't be quite as sure about the teen when it came to wanting to postpone that part of life, but the woman did know her partner inside and out so it wasn't incorrect to assume that he didn't want to rush anywhere near that topic, unless he had somehow changed do much for that child and they were both harboring secret plans to elope and start their own family. Maybe in six months that would be something to watch for, but for now Valentine just shook her head at the notion and continued to ride the flow of the vast river as she absorbed the radiant milky light dancing through eternity, grinning across the dappled splash of her late-night swimming companion.

Life was too short and every moment aught to have been celebrated to the fullest: Carlos and Jill had taken that mantra and had swam with it after everyone else had evaporated from the scene like smoke people whose hour on this earthly plane was up, and even Barry had taken that knowledge into consideration when coming up with a punishment befitting what Robin had done to him. Kathy - who was not ordinarily one to be particularly harsh in the area of doling out penalties - was whispering in her husband's ear that he should confine the girl to her room for the newt few days (deadline oddly falling away about the same time that Chris and Claire were due to depart back to their own lives), but the father felt that that might have too much, as Chris was their daughter's best friend and didn't get that much time to see her between their schedules. Obviously for fear of what her spouse might do, the mother of his children didn't outright raise her voice to the suggestion lest he inquire as to why she was suddenly so keen to dish out a drastic consequence, but in her mind it was all for Robin's own good, so the girl didn't get involved in anything that could seriously hurt her fragile little heart. Polly seemed to judge the situation better than her elder sister and saw it only for a random lash-out, but Moira saw for maybe the first time that she didn't have to completely comply with Barry, that she had every right to make up her own mind about something, everyone else be damned. Concerned of that happening yet blissfully unaware of what was going through the minds of his little girls, Barry did want to make the three of his daughters reconsider ever snapping like that again, but he knew that it was impossible if only because of human nature, so he had to weigh his options carefully before ultimately deciding on the fate of his oldest.

"Robbie," Barry had called the teen to his crammed little study once he had word that she had returned to the house intact (Claire the messenger, as promised), the jock's admittance to any other part of the house (minus the bathroom) barred until such a time that the father's mind had been made up on what the ramifications of her outburst would be. Fingers laced thoughtfully as he inspected the young woman sitting before him through plastic filing trays and a scattered range of pens, bullets, and other odds and ends, the older man had to marvel at when her gray eyes had grown so sure and full of a fierce inner light, if the newfound height was truly an overnight growth or just the lack of her hunching slightly, but more than any of that, Barry Burton had to ponder when exactly she had grown up into a woman. "You look different, more like a woman and less like the little girl I welcomed into my home with open arms three years ago. To me and Kathy and the girls, you'll always be that girl and our third daughter, blood be damned! You're my little Robbie, now and forever!" Catching himself before he strayed too far off course, he quickly amended, "but you're not wrong, you're growing up too. It won't be long before you go off to college and get yourself a serious boyfriend, and then after a long,_ long_," he carefully enunciated that last long so she'd get the point, "time, you might even decide to become a full-fledged woman once he puts a ring on your wedding finger. Can you imagine, from baby bird to a woman capable of whatever she sets her mind to!" Clearing his throat in a mix of embarrassment and pride, Barry finally came to the point he had been meaning to make the entire time, playing with a stack of papers that had already been split into two neat piles on his desk, "About back there, I know that you get frustrated not being treated like an adult, but you have to understand that I can't reward such childish behavior. Tell your mother I really stressed that when she asks how it went, since your sisters look up to you for everything you do, so you have to even be careful about the way you pee in front of them, or else they might get the wrong idea. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Had the bird's daydreaming young mind not been on the remarkably plush carpet of her bedroom and all the angles she wanted to look at it from as Chris embraced her naked body and they took their time throughly exploring every nook and cranny until the weak rays of dawn filled up the tightly fastened window, the athlete might have been paying better attention to what her father was saying. Yet as it was, the teen had neglected to hear the words coming out of her father's mouth (which on some level wasn't a bad thing as from a selfish perspective, parts of it would have reintroduced that nasty guilty feeling that so loved to bury itself in her intestines), "Of course!" This was one of three well-hearsed dances that the athlete had learned to fake her way through when her attentions were elsewhere, "I'm sorry I acted like such a spoiled brat to you, and more than that, I'm really mad at myself for letting the girls see that ugliness. I'll take whatever you feel I deserve after that, and I'll be sure to take Ira and Pol aside and let them know how bad that kind of behavior is, and how it'll never be tolerated. The hour and a half it took for you to come up with my punishment was more than enough time for me to reflect," well at least that much of her speech was true, but not in the way the was talking about, "and I just to say that you're right, and I'm sorry."

At the end of the day when all was said and done, whatever else one could say about her personal character, Robin was still just a teenager, and as much as it aggrieved him to be aware of that simple fact, Barry acknowledged that much, "Robbie, I am right, but are you just saying that to get this over with, or do you really mean it young lady? Don't answer that, because believe it or not, I was your age once and I know how the teenage brain works - you just want what you want when you want it, and when that isn't possible you just float along on your little cloud of dreams and wishes. I'm not blind, and I'm not dumb," that particular phrasing of words jumped out at the bird and grabbed her attention if only out of fear that he had finally caught on like the rest of them had to the worst-kept secret in the northern hemisphere, "Chris is your best friend, and it's only natural that certain feelings would come along with the territory, but trust me Robbie, you don't have give in to them. He knows who you are as a person and he loves you for that already, so you don't have to be bristly as a desert cactus to show that you're an adult and worthy of friendships with someone so much older than yourself. If he's your real friend - and I think between us we both know that he's your closest confident as well as my own - he won't judge you for any number unattached to a dollar sign. Money and loans can get dicey between even the best of brothers, but since you're independent on that count already I don't think you have to worry about that one, my sweetling."

Just like that, all in the course of one simple monologue, Barry had singlehandedly brought back that nagging feeling in her stomach in full force like never before, so beautifully blind to the fact that he was being betrayed more and more with each passing word, the knife twisting in his back starting to poke through the front now as she held back, fighting with every fiber in her being to not break down and just blurt out the truth. It was no lie that she cared for Chris more than almost anyone else in the entire world, and it was more than accurate to say that the bird knew in her heart that he reciprocated the sentiments, but to hear them from her father's own mouth with such a tragically innocent twist was almost enough to bring tears to her lying gray eyes. "Yeah, if you say so..." Buckling underneath the weight of his trusting grin, the lies suddenly felt like a thick rope tied around her throat, each second longer she took confessing only yanking the amply woven cord that much harder, "Daddy, you know that I love you, right? More than anything else, I love you and mom and the girls, and I'll always be grateful for what you guys have given me. I just..." No, she couldn't break now! "I love you guys. Really. I just want you to know that, and how lucky I feel to have blessed with people that love me just as much in return."

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><p>Author's Notes: Another short chapter, but that's just the way this cookie crumbles! Although in hindsight, mayhap I made Barry a bit too strange...<p>

I'd just like to say, **hooray4natasha**, you rock so much! Thank you so very much for all of the reviews you've given so far! It means a lot to hear that this fic isn't just another one of the countless millions out there!

Music: "One Thousand Apologies" by Demon Hunter. Honestly, I'm second-guessing last chapter's song, but I don't think I necessarily should be. Urgh, sometimes I hate caring so much and getting so consumed by my work. Oh well, I'll just have to really make up for it this go-around! Anyways, about this chapter's music, I looked at a few songs, but this one above all others really hit on the perspective and feeling I wanted to convey, so here we are!

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	19. Personal Jesus

Getting off this time wasn't the same as it had been the last time: mind a million miles away and stuck in the past, ossified heart already bled dry of its clotted red tears, the bird knew in her very core that the yearning was no less intensive and yet the passion was a shadow of its former self, mirroring the motions as hands roamed in fervent fascination and lips tenderly caressed bare flesh. Putting in an honest attempt to match the inferno of the first time, the teen did her utmost to savor each kiss and treasure every second, but it was painfully obvious to both involved parties that there was something keeping her mind preoccupied and stealing away a good portion of the frenzy that had come so naturally before. It had to be either that or the first time was just a fluke, but the soldier and his pet songbird refused to believe that this second time was an indicator that what they were doing was wrong. Well obviously it _was_ wrong, but for them there was no other alternative but to accept it or spend endless amounts of time hurting themselves - although was it truly worth the cost of betraying poor sweet Barry? Urgh, Barry! There might not have been much of a struggle in keeping her voice down so that her younger sister (and any casual passersby) didn't overhear what they were up to in the confines of these four walls, but that wasn't for lack of excitement - in fact it had everything to do with father dearest, who had seen fit to be especially barbarously wicked and blantantly malicious when he had basically given his daughter a free pass and the worst guilt trip of her entire life, all with a smile on his ignorant face! _Just have fun with Chris while your time lasted, because it would be a long time before you two will see each other again, _that's what Barry had told her, _and to accommodate for all the extra mouths to feed this weekend, be a dear and go to the store for your mother_. That's what her father had told the teen to do - continuing living this lie and watch as it grows with each stolen glance and whispered sigh, revel in the secrecy and suffer for the unspoken truth, and in the morning leave the house with a shopping list that only gave the time for more indecent bonds! Barry had all but given his daughter his permission to carry on, but not without returning the kindness of a slow demise!

Coming into her room so late after everyone else had carried themselves off to dreamlands of sugar-coated syringes and scantily-clad serving wenches made of bacon, somehow neither had the direct intentions to end up bedding down together for the night (it was too much of a risk being on the same floor and only a wall away from discovery), however if sex had happened to work itself into the equation it wouldn't be fought off. Used to shouldering the burdens given on her own, Robin's first reaction wasn't to bring up everything that had happened during her conversation with her father and to just bottle it up, but sooner than later she had worn down and told Chris, partially because it was just eating the athlete's thump-thump to a ruby-hued pulp, but there were other reasons for it as well. The soldier, meanwhile, had the rather queer desire to talk to the girl about anything and everything (like they used to do before he met the interior decorator of her hallowed halls) even before picking up on the fact that something was bothering his Little Bird. Qualified now to say that the man really did know the female inside and out, he cared more to think of her as the friend she once was, especially after the thinly-veiled lectures he had been forced to listen to while waiting for the verdict with the rest of those not still stuck with strict bedtimes, the glare in Kathy's eyes hard, haunting, and omniscient. There hadn't been anything too direct thrown out into the universe, but that stare the mother had fixed him with filled his breast with a terrificly overwhelming panic and an urge to prove to her as much as to himself that his thirst wasn't fleeting, nor that the fighter would throw in the white towel of surrender the moment things got rough. Their feelings for each other ran deeper than mere words of poetry could suggest, far outweighing any old fling, so all there was to do was prove that by their actions; maybe not necessarily every movement, as the sway of the situation was more private (and in truth a tad touched by the ungloved hand of spite) than what civil company would allow, but time would prove Chris' point well enough.

Climaxing in one salty kiss, one moment they had been discussing how much it hurt to be betraying the teen's father and how his words had stung at her heart like alcohol on a festering wound, the sweet poison a bitter dab on a cut that was still raw and eking out spurts of gore at regular intervals, and the next thing either of them had known his hand was to her check, wiping away the crystalline traces of tears on her pale face just before their lips had parted for comfort. Some part of her still withdrew and wanted solitude to muse upon the uneventful exchange her brave hero-prince had endured with her mother and their friends, plus his sister (whom Robin still could not pardon for setting this whole nasty business with her father off), but on the same token the bird rather enjoyed the warm smile on his face as he have her the one gift no one else had before - equality. Kathy had apparently told the lot of them that she had been considering joining the PTA just so she could keep a better eye on all of the students (again, another undisguised warning), but she wouldn't have mentioned it to any of her girls until her mind was closer to being made. Billy probably would have offered up the details about his new place with Rebecca and what the plan was for their current residences, but it would have been further down the line when they had settled, probably around the same time they threw that housewarming party to acquaint themselves and their old friends with the new neighborhood. Even then there was no guarantee that any of them would have treated the jock like she understood what was happening around her mortal coil, but it was different with Chris - he got her, and more importantly he treated the young girl not like a broken husk of a doll but a woman, a peer, and there were no secrets in his eyes when they conversed.

Finding relief that someone could finally understand the deepest part of herself, it wasn't very hard at all to hand herself over so completely to him, trusting Chris with everything she had and more; that was another reason it hurt so much that the bird's father had to sink into her mind and take root, feeding in the nutrients of the reservations that would likely always have a place in some dank part of the back of her subconscious. There was an age gap that would always sound extreme, even when she was in her seventies, and the first year or so of their relationship would have to be hidden (because they were already off to such a great start!) when all she wanted to do was scream it from the highest frosty mountain peak and be able to hold his hand over the top of the table for the world to see, however that was just the harsh truth of it. But even still, what they had was beautiful and pure and completely unbreakable! So what if her father had pointed out that they didn't have all the time in the world to be together - when they were together, they were together, and that was all that mattered, not her stupid father or even his bitch of a sister (hopefully someday for his sake the jock would get past this anger, but until then that icy identifier would suffice). _All that matters is that we have each other in this moment. _Reflecting upon the truth of that statement, the teen shook her head with a frown, apologizing to Chris for her stupidity and whatever else she aught to have been sorry for, making the largest point of all with more than her lips alone as she reached the part about being stuck in her own mind and not considering how this mood had been affecting him.

Riding a wave of euphoria and drunk on the presence of her brave knight in shining amour alone, it killed the girl at least a hundred times over just to have to sigh, even if it was only a murmur as sweet and as short as his name, "Chris," gazing back into her eyes as if they they were the first sign of dry land he had seen in decades, the soldier could read the storm brewing behind her silvery marbles, "this isn't right, this isn't how it should be. Inside my chest my heart is doing back flips and such daring feats as can only be imagined, but when you kiss me like that, your fingers so light as they roam lower and lower down my thigh, it should be all I can do to keep myself from shattering my voice box. I can picture me in the shower still, legs crossed so tightly around her waist that we both might shatter, can't remember how I moaned in your ear?" Aware that it sounded as if she were speaking of something from years ago, Robin took another approach to get her mind on to more pressing matters and her head into the game, back to where it had been earlier that morning (or was it yesterday now?), "Why don't we try this and see if it works?" On the carpet so that the furniture didn't betray their actives with a squeak of protest or disgruntled groan of supporting too much friction, the teen pulled him into a deep kiss before rolling them both over so that she was on top, guiding one of his hands along from her hip to some place considerably higher and more centered, "Now kiss me." Not waiting to see how he felt about this reversal of placement or even for him to comply with her brazen demand, the bird lowered her lips to his own, taking the newfound enthusiasm for approval as she clutched him tightly between her legs, setting a much faster pace, "If you're a good boy, I might just be nice too and give you a token of my appreciation."

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><p>Author's Notes: Because I'm not demented at all 0.o Speaking of my depravity, there's actually a theme to the structure of this chapter. Yeah, my advice is don't write when you're tired after a sugar high (or maybe I just need a boost of sweetness to wake-up, I dunno, I'm<em> that<em> tuckered and ready for bed) and a bad night sleep the previous day. Or if that's your process, kudos if you can make it work successfully. Yes, I may have been watching Pirates of the Caribbean while working on this chapter. And again, another short chapter. I wonder if this time it really will stick and become a trend?

Once more, applause to **hooray4natasha **for the lovely reviews! If other people reviewed they'd get their name in bold too, along with my gratitude.

Music: "Personal Jesus" by Marilyn Manson. Yes, I know that the song is actually done by Depeche Mode, but I like the Marilyn version better (plus I've been dying to use a Manson song this whole time), although I guess that you can go with whatever version you want to, I won't stop you, even if I could. People should be allowed to listen to whatever music they want to, so no one should judge them for it.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	20. Hello

Armed and dangerous with a full list of produce and other commonplace household items, a well-trusted pen for crossing off inventory and rearranging sums, and daddy's wallet (if the teen had been in a vindictive mood she might have been inspired to abuse that power, but thankfully for the family the athlete had considerably more sense than to go about running the funds dry), the bird had been sent off to the supermarket in town with only a volunteered escort for company. Three guesses who it was pushing the second cart and reaching stock from the top shelves, browned maple eyes glued to the healthy curve filling up a pair of dark low-rise jeans that laced up the side with a leathery cherry cord, snatches of bare skin playing peek-a-boo when the shapely jock bent down to examine something on the bottommost levels, which frankly seemed to be more than the average shopper. The shirt was teal, form-fitting, and cut low enough to easily make out the lacy yellow straps beneath, and it had been covered by a rather baggy sun-faded black t-shirt when they left the house so she would be allowed out the front door without a production, but once they were in the car he had rented out for the week and cruising down the street, the murky covering had been cast aside and thrown in the back somewhere, forgotten but briefly missed while it had been a fresh loss. Short of torturing the pilot, there was no conceivable need to wear that kind of ridiculous clothing now that he had held every part of her body in his hands, except it was too late now to return any of its sultry fellows so the teen was going to get her moneys worth, even if it exposed more flesh than what she was used to putting out on display. There was no secret in the fact that Robin was the kind of girl that would be happier any day of the week in her more practical pieces as opposed to these girly little strips, but she had paid for the new wardrobe with her hard-earned paycheck, so she would be damned if she didn't mix it up every now and again, not to mention that Chris seemed to like looking at her more when he could tell that she actually had breasts.

Smart bombs that were merely awaiting activation, a moment that would make the lies seems less significant as there was a stronger element of truth to be found in the cover-up of the moment at question, the trigger just a small smile or wink, some minute action that would look like nothing on the outside but would mean everything on the in. All morning the sweet songbird had been so well behaved that her own mother wouldn't recognize her, so the time to treat herself was coming, that golden opportunity on the horizon: Barry was right in saying that summer was short and the duo's time together even more limited, so it was up to them to make the most of it. It was almost close enough to just reach out and touch - just like that set of chrome-vanadium metric wrenches flashing literal neon signs from within the handy-store front of the open outdoor mall they stopped at before hitting the supermarket, and was just begging to be bought - but no, not just yet. There was still a few things on the list of importance that the family couldn't live comfortably without, and anyways if they went off to the nearest available place right this minute, what message would that be sending? Heaven only knows how great all that intimacy was, but truth be told the fragile doll wanted more than that, to ensure that the deeper bond between them remained strong and alive despite the carnal knowledge, and so this was a great chance to prove just that, that this was more than sex and was something real. It was real, right? To the child it had been, but in hindsight they hadn't actually used any exact labels...

Never thinking of herself to be that sort of girl before during certain dealings, the teen was disquieted for wanting to hear the words from his own mouth without the soldier having to be lead or tricked into it first, almost as much as the bird was irked that things had spiraled so crazily out of hand the way they had without any trace of an answer; perhaps if the athlete had not woken up alone that morning when the first rays of dawn had licked through the window, her mind wouldn't have been quite as troubled. Obviously they had to be careful so that her father didn't suspect anything was amiss - the jock wasn't completely as dumb as to misunderstand that much as it hit her that he was probably downstairs, rolling on the couch at that very minute - and it probably hadn't been the kindest request in the world to keep him nearby until she drifted off (it wasn't like he opposed the suggestion, wrapped heavily in the heady scent of fresh sweat and sweet lingering plumes of affection) but none of that excused him from being absent in her mind. Incontestably he cared something for her, as demonstrated by the fact that she had been placed in the bed with a wispy white cover over the bareness of her frame while she slumbered, but it wasn't the same as waking up with him by her side, like she'd always dreamed of. Urgh, Robin loathed what a whiny baby she was being about that even now as they joked about which new set of paints Polly would like best, especially knowing just how much was at stake if they had been discovered, but at the same time some part of her felt ok with moping about the facts as hiding their relationship from the world meant cheating herself out of everything that she had ever hoped for. The toll to cross that particular bridge seemed higher and higher with every passing hour, but at least the practiced dancer could say that she finally had Chris at long last, and that was worth everything to the bird, so never mind the price of having to lock everything away - plus being so near to eighteen now, it wasn't like they would have to hide it for forever.

Afraid deep down that for whatever reason they might have to - questioning if that was something she could endure long-term - Robin was so busy using the remainder of her brain capacity to comfort herself with regrettably baseless notions, she hadn't immediately recognized the two waving ferociously from the outside of the store. Ruing that the moment had to be interrupted - even if it was by two of her closet school-age comrades - the teen looked up at her companion wordlessly, praying that he was up to having to put up with their bullshit teenage shenanigans and wouldn't judge her too harshly from what he was likely to hear. Crossing the cramped showroom floor in less than five strides, two dark-haired boys from her grade grinned in recognition; pale as the winter snows with barely any natural pink coloring at all, one was round and just shorter than the bird by a few measly milliliters, face an oval-shaped pizza with rawboned features, while the other was lean as his complexion was dark, his eyes like two rounded chips of earth and more often than not underlined by heavy strokes of jet eyeliner. The doughy boy was named Zedd Gagnon, most often seen two-strapping a sable backpack filled with an array of random items and a torn-up red plaid work shirt over whatever he had donned for the day, whereas "Bex" was never without a feigned scowl of disinterest, a dyed fringe of vibrant hues, and chunky leather boots that added no less than three inches to his already considerable height. Bex was actually just what Robin called him out of both mocking and affection, as his real name was Arron Baxter Lam (the discovery of his middle-name had been the most beneficial of flukes that involved an overly-talkative mother), but the name had stuck and now everyone called him either Bex or B.E.C., which stood for black emo Canadian, as it was evidently some sort of rare sight and oh-so-clever. BEC was just a stupid name the jock thought scathingly every time she heard it (Robin was hands-down the most annoyed by its existence), but Bex was cute and different, just like how she also called her friend and sometimes teammate Ant (Anthony Li his name was, and the only small thing about him had been the amount of love he had for intolerance). At any rate the teen hadn't been expecting to run into any of her classmates for any reason, chums or otherwise.

Hands stretched out to greet the strangers Bex made a beeline straight for the teen and her mystery consort, lank fingers reaching past the ebony tendrils of hair spilling freely from a half-assed knot at the back of the bird's cranium, brittle joints clasping firmly on the fleshy mounds protruding from his friend's chest; if running into the both of them had been a shock for the girl, then them spying the padded breasts poking up from the clingy tank-top was nothing short of the work of God for the boys. Bumping into them at any point of time no matter who she was with (they tended to ease back a bit when they saw her with her parents, but even then she wasn't safe), Robin had known from the very start to expect trouble, but either way she looked at it there was no anticipating this new kind of handshake - hopefully for everyone's sake this was the worst of it, but knowing the duo the way that she did, the girl surmised that it wasn't. "Who are they?!" Flabbergasted as equally about the breasts as the glasses, Zedd did all the speaking while Bex only lowered his grip when he had been made to, "Robb, you mean to tell us that this entire time you've had these bad boys hidden away?! Dammit woman, you know that I almost had to take my cousin Penny to prom last year!" The tips of his ears reddened, despite the fact that it had only been at his mother's insistence if he hadn't found a date in time (the three of them had actually gone together as friends for a joke or whatever, but after they had left and took the party with them, it hadn't quite been as friends). "And glasses too?! Who are you and what have you done with our Robb?!" Acting as if he had only just noticed Chris then as the adult flexed his jaw in an attempt to restrain the anger that was obviously flashing like premeditated murder in his brown eyes, Zedd turned his blue orbs to the older male, "Oh, and who's this? What," a taunting smirk crossed his slender lips just then, "doesn't daddy trust his little baby chicken to survive the mildness of Canada on her own?"

Tensing up next to Robin and just barely keeping his indignation at bay - seriously, what the fuck! What was he supposed to think when some other guy greeted her like that?! Didn't what their time together mean anything to her?! - Chris was liking this conversation less and and less, his agitation only mounting with the passing moments he was ignored. If these twerps weren't still minors he already would have put their heads through the nearest wall for the way they were treating the songbird, but if they kept pushing his buttons the soldier was likely to snap and do it anyways, no matter how old they were! Sensing the building fury just drawing from his reserves of strength at her back, the teen ignored the violation as she was that close with the pair, acting as if that hadn't just transpired; frankly the athlete knew it was wrong and not likely to pass, but if her soldier-knight had thought to blacken an eye or two on her behalf, the scolding would only have been perfunctory. Sure, he was technically the adult there and aught to have known better, and he had easily twice their muscle and would make mincemeat from the duo if it came to blows, but that action - or really any actual action aside from just standing idly by - would have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt what their circumstances were.

But no, apparently it was part of the punishment for lying to Barry that they should carry on this way, status unknown. Sighing inwardly at that stroke of self-served misfortune, the jock turned her attention from the person at her back to those standing before her, going almost automatically to the most basic of courtesies, "Zedd, I haven't seen you since summer started! How's your grandmother doing? Has the infection cleared up?" Catching up for a moment or two as she and Lam saw each other nearly every week for their self-defense/mixed martial arts classes, Chris and Bex exchanged uneasy stares, the pilot doubtlessly scandalized and floored by her apathetic lack of a reaction, as well as more than just annoyed at the kid's daring, while the other teen attempted to put the stories to his face. "Bex," the lass grinned at the thought of a challenge, unthinking of how else that might have been interpreted, "ready for next week's lesson? Patty tells me we might get to have a make-shift tournament with some kind of prize at the end - knowing Chezzia it'll probably just be 'honor' and knowing that we did a good job, but if it's not, you can bet I'll put that much more of my all into kicking all of your butts. Hell, prize or no, it'll be sweet just getting to beat all you losers!" Seeing that they were both eyeing Chris now and were as unamused by her sporty nature as ever, the teen figured that she'd have no other choice but to introduce him - the problem was how was she supposed to call him, since even telling these two schmucks it might spread back to her father, "Guys, this is Chris Redfield, my..." Trailing away uncomfortably, the sportswoman stole a glance in his direction, yearning to do as little as squeeze his hand for comfort and guidance, but that was impossible to do in this situation without drawing attention to the movement.

Thankfully fate had made it so that neither lad had overheard the awkward pause beyond their shared amazement, "You mean _that_ Chris?! The one that makes you get all googly-eyed whenever his name is brought up, your brain all dreamy like you're the girl that everyone else claims you are? Still waiting on that birth certificate by the way." Zedd narrowed his eyes in playful suspicion and just laughed in that obnoxious way he had, but Bex wasn't quite as prepared to let her off the hook so easily - maybe he could tell the truth at a glance like so many before him and had resented the fact that his affections had been rebuffed for some stranger he had discredited the actual existence of, "The same Chris that you cried about after prom before we drank so much the only thing any of us remembered was the next morning?" Witnessing the hurt and confusion on the face of the girl and her breathing shadow was sweeter than any treat, so he carried on, "The one that you called best friend and blew off all that school to see?" Ok, it was only like twice that whole year for what she could recall, and it wasn't like he had taken her out of school for the whole day - she had had to endure first and second period before he swooped in to collect her - and anyways it wasn't for Arron to say what she did or whom she did it with. "The same Chris that came between you and Heather?" Raising an eyebrow about how he could have came between two girls (one of whom he had never even heard of before), Chris stared at Robin through the back of her head, mutely letting her know that that was definitely something he was going to ask about later. "The same Chris that coach McKerlime found you masterb-"

"Thank you, Arron!" Raising her voice to drown out what Baxter was trying to say about her in the girl's locker room after school one day (when for the record she had thought that she was alone), wondering if he was just being a dumb-ass the same as usual or if this had been some sort of intentional malicious attack, the one body in the group brimming with natural estrogen glared daggers at her so-called friend, "Such a good friend, I should remember this kindness when Tiffy breaks up with you again for Zeke." Cracking like a glacier that was patiently awaiting a certain doomed cruise liner, the jock became more frigid than any ice queen that had come before or that would come later down the line, "Tiffy and I happen to be on good terms these days, if you care to recall the events of a certain party," Tiffy was Bex's on-again/off-again girlfriend for the last three and a half years now, and though they hadn't initially gotten along, the two females had eventually found common ground and had bonded enough to pretend to be friends, "speaking of which, I haven't spoken to her all summer break now, maybe I should give her a call and see how she's doing?" It was a low blow Robin knew, but revealing everything to Chris that he had and just acting the jealous little jerk really made the burden considerably lighter, although she knew that that too would come back to make her feel remorsefully guilty later, "What do you think, should I call her now - I do have her number - or should I just wait until I see her, when this exchange will mean next to nothing if it's even still a memory by then?"

Muttering to himself that that wasn't necessary and that he had just been messing around for laughs, Bex looked away as he fumbled with the row of safety pins hanging from the hem of his hunter-green wife-beater; Zedd, who understood better than Chris what her threats meant, merely pursed his lips sheepishly, having no desire to be part of that fight amongst friends, "Peace, bro, peace and love." Partially in awe of how the girl could go from desperately irate to icy cold so instantly even now after knowing her these past three years, Gagnon had stood back as if from afar when these moments came up - which thankfully actually wasn't all that often - hating that he knew how much Bex liked Robin, and how she would never return that sentiment, especially now knowing that this Chris guy was for real and here with her in the flesh. He had no way of knowing any of this for sure, but the way that the athlete was smiling from within it was easy enough to gather that something good had finally gone her way, "So, now that the claws have been retracted-" He glanced between the warring parties to search for signs of treachery, "-are we cool again?" As pacifistic as they came, another reason that Robin was such good friends with Zedd was because like her brother Onni, he had only gotten into one physical altercation in his entire life, and that was for the honor of a younger sister as well, "Now let's have them be off on their way, shall we bro? The girl looks quite busy, and knowing her old man, they still have a full plate ahead of them." Maybe they weren't as stupid as she gave them credit for, or at least Zedd wasn't.

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><p>Author's Notes: As taught to me by Megan Fox from <em>Jennifer's Body<em>, a girl's boobs are like smart bombs. Wow, I don't even watch that show, but the way I worded that last line really made me think of something from that Aqua Teen stuff. Oh well. Speaking of not caring and just going on, I predict with my little writer's eye (yes, that's a thing. Or it is now :D) that a time skip is on the horizon in upcoming chapters. Anyways, honestly I have no idea about tools and stuff, so I just looked at wikipedia (yes, I know that that isn't an exact science, so to speak). Stereotypes are incredibly dumb and aught to be ended! Or at least that's just how I feel about it personally. For the record, I also think Canada's pretty cool and I'd like to go there someday.

A thanks to another truly great Resident Evil fan, **hooray4natasha**!

Music: "Hello" by Lionel Richie. Not the original song I had in mind for the chapter, but it's so much better for what I'm trying to get across in this one, I don't mind much that I swapped them out. I mean I do mind a little bit, but not nearly enough to make an issue out of it. I think the lyrics speak for themselves, so I do believe that I don't have anything else to add for the chapter ^^

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	21. Say Something

Watching the duo of dudes departing from the drawing department of the art supply discount square - the guilt kicking in as predicted because Bex was retreating with his tail between his legs like a whipped dog - Chris was silent as the grave until they had gone from sight, figures walking beyond the range of the ceiling-to-floor windows. Once they were gone from sight and it was just the pair of them, an expectant mother browsing through scrapbooking material at the opposite end of the store, and two exceptionally bored clerks more preoccupied playing with hand-held game systems than watching for theft or other shenanigans, the soldier put his hand on the bird's exposed shoulder with enough pressure to tell her that this was serious, bodily turning her lithe frame so they were face-to-face. That whole exchange had been quite telling on its own, but he now needed answers for the remaining parts that were left rather cloudy by blatant jealousy - personally he had been happy enough just thinking of his time with her and paying no heed to whatever came before, but now thanks to that boy, the pilot had to wonder if maybe the time had come to look into the closet. He wanted little more than to go on believing in his pretty little songbird, but for her part the reactions she had actually given left him either shocked and disappointed or else just scratching his head; Chris wished that they had been somewhere more private to discuss all of this (not that any of the witnesses seemed to be paying them any mind in the first place), but this particularly bristly topic couldn't have waited a moment longer than necessary lest it fester and mutate into a much larger cause of concern. It would seem that there was no more delaying - he had to know who this young woman was and what she had done in the past if they were to have any kind of a future together.

"Robin," the lack of him calling her Little Bird was yet another indicator of just how important this conversation was, as if there was any doubt when their eyes met, the pressure his fingers exerted on her limbs proof enough that this was no laughing matter, his body language telling her that it wouldn't be much longer before the shaking started, "what the hell was that all about?!" There was a frantic glint to the soldier's big brown eyes as he demanded, "Who were those boys and what _exactly_ was your relationship with them?" Enunciating the points of precisely and that whatever was between them was in the past now that they were a thing, this was the closest thing to define the boundaries between them that Chris himself said or did by this point, subtly staking his claim for the bird and divulging that darkest, most selfishly petty side of himself. Conceding that this was a new view of the hero, in some way Robin had already known that he wasn't perfect and with his own secret sins - the serviceman was currently taking up with the sportswoman after all, so how truly good could either of them be? - her affections for him only multiplied in that instant, because he had drawn that line in the sand (she could kiss those blathering dolts for that much!). "And who the hell's Heather?"

Heather? Heather was... "Out of everything I could tell you right now, Heather is going to be the hardest part. There's a lot about me that you don't know yet, and honestly part of me wants you to know it the least out of everyone I know, but I don't have any choice in the matter, not if I want I want to continue there being an us." Bracing herself, the young woman exhaled what very well could have been the last breath of this wondrous yet short-lived life, "What do you want to hear first? None of it is really that good, so that whole band-aid mentality really doesn't apply here. The only thing I can do to take away the sting is to say that it was all in the past, and I can also ask you if you really want to know the truth, because there's no going back from here." Resolved as ever, Chris gave no signs of second-guessing the decision to find out what had happened in his Little Bird's past; in some ways it was rather like being back at the mansion in the Arklay mountains, surrounded at every conceivable corner by the unknown, hounded by the malicious shadow of a traitor the point man had once thought to be one of his dearest friends. "Alright then. Zedd was one of the first kids in the school to befriend me when I moved here, and until last year nothing had happened between us. Bex, on the other hand, always kind of had a thing for me, but I was always interested in someone else," Robin's smile was wan, her hand outstretched for the briefest of moments before falling back down to her side, "and again nothing had happened until last year. It was prom, junior prom, and you were away protecting the world. Honestly it was kind of dumb of me, but I had held out some hope that you might come back early to surprise me, so that was the only reason I even bothered buying a dress and going through all that hassle. And you never came back, so I got really upset. I know, it was stupid in the first place to think that you would have hastened all just to come see that milestone, but I had still hoped. I had gone with him and Zedd as friends, since I felt bad for Zedd's mom threatening him with his cousin if he didn't go with anyone else, and Bex had just broken up with his girlfriend, so I figured that misery loves company and all that crap. Seeing how upset I was, it was almost too easy for Bex to get me drunk enough to take certain suggestions, and something happened. I don't recall everything that happened, but there are sometimes still flashes when I think about it. It was one of my lowest points, but not the worst."

Imagining the teen waiting on her front porch for hours by herself while the night wore thin and the dance came ever closer to ending, the soldier pulled the pictures her parents had taken from his memory and recalled the two figures he had honestly blotted out, one tall, dark, and handsome as he grinned by the girl's side and the other shyly trying to edge himself out of the frame. Even in the photograph the athlete had clearly been forcing herself to smile, but in his mind's eye she had been visibly crying; if it had been any other night the pilot knew that she would have turned down any unwanted attempts, but prom was an especially cruel time, as the couples out on the dance floor would only remind her of what she was missing, and to remedy that pain practically everyone would turn to the bottle sooner or later. He had no way of guessing how long she had held out, but ultimately the end result was the same, and she took the poison, thus allowing even the slimiest of worms the opportunity to think himself a king for a day. Loathing for her so-called friends increasing exponentially, the soldier was almost afraid to ask what the worst point for her was, mind racing to one undesirable thought from the next, each outcome grimmer than the one that came before it. Angrier than he had felt in a long while, Chris was torn between wanting to chase after those bastards for taking advantage of his Little Bird when she was drunk, lonely, and vulnerable, but considering all of the facts and how they all treated each other to this day it had been a consensual enough act. Still though, he wasn't saying 'no' to that notion. Although, thinking back to how quickly she had picked up on what he liked beneath the sheets, the pilot couldn't help but wonder at this point if that was that her first time?

As if reading his mind at that moment - or rather peering into the depths of his very being and just knowing the person he was at the core - Robin shook her dark head morosely, finding it easy enough to dismiss them from the lists but not so keen to reveal the rest of the contents either, "No, Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dipshit weren't my first time. My first was... back in Raccoon City." There was a slight hint of a shiver underlining the soul-rending anguish that was still so effortless to chafe raw, but besides being a dark time for everyone who survived it, it stood to reason that any mention of Raccoon City stung, because she had only just hit puberty when enduring that nightmare, which would logically have made the child fourteen or younger when the deed had been done to her. There was still so much left unsaid about that time and even less about her birth mother, so was it possible that the woman had somehow been involved? "I... I still can't... Please don't make me get into that now..." More silver than the storm, there was a shining wetness in the teen's eyes as she pleaded for that one issue to be set aside for later. Much later, if it absolutely had to be touched upon at all. Promising himself that he would respect her boundaries on that one, Chris nodded his consent and the teen went on, "I made enough mistakes, and I don't want to make any more, not with you." There was something she wanted to say - something that seemed to be about himself and perhaps her feelings for him - he could see it glimmering in her eyes along with the garish florescent lights above, but the words had stuck in her throat, refusing to be said. Maybe that was for the best though, because he was pretty sure what it would have been on her lips if she had been able, and while it was something he yearned to hear, now was neither the time nor the place. "It was only the once after prom, because I tried to keep to myself, at least until Heather came along..." A story in its own right, it was easiest just to give the cliff notes version, "Like me she was an outsider, although she came from someplace in Virgina, I think. Mute Meadows, or Soundless Heights, or something like that, I don't remember anymore... She told us all to just ignore her and not to bother because she wouldn't, but I could relate to being so alone in a new place, haunted by the past, so I reached out to her. We got along, for a while, but eventually she had to leave, and she never wrote me back. Well, she did once, just once, and... Well, it doesn't matter. Heather was certifiable and I... I was hung up on an idea that tore us apart as much as it bonded us." An idea nearly as crazy and impossible as what Heather had talked about before she had fled with her father for the next life. Hmm, a distant part of Robin had to wonder about the other girl, about how she fared now, and if her own insanity was more sane than she had ever dared to believe true, did that mean that Heather wasn't as bananas has she had been written off as? No matter, that never would have worked anyways, and this was real, Robin knew that now. In so many words Chris was hers, and she was his. She was his.

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><p>Author's Notes: Because the closet is where secrets, skeletons, and denial live. Who is Heather indeed? You can't win the race without putting a few band-aides on your nipples first (<em>Horrible Bosses<em> anyone?). No, wait a minute, that isn't right! For bad news, you just have to rip it off quick, like a band-aide. So brownie points if you know who Heather is, and if not, its ok, you only fail at survival horror, lol ^^ Seriously though, this is a short chapter and kinda on the creepy borderline possessive side (or is that just me again?).

Whoot, ten reviews so far! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much **hooray4natasha**!

Music: "Say Something" by A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera. Partially just a good bridge song to the next chapter, and partially just great for its title and how it follows after the previous song, this one came to me pretty much by accident. I mean, I was looking for how to span the gap between the two song titles, but because of randomizing my Youtube playlists, I found this beauty! Truth be it isn't the first song I tried to add the playlist before knowing what the chapter was going to be about, and somehow I doubt that it'll be the last. Truth be, I did consider - briefly - using a Backstreet Boys song.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	22. Come What May

Brow coated in an unhealthy sheen of sweat, the body swathed tightly beyond the point of breathing in fine ivory silk that could make the purest of milk seem like the spotted trails of devouring mold, a fully female figure had collapsed from the boiling heat that paled to the power of the hottest furnace, the sweet lilies and gossamer tendrils of dainty celebratory streamers lank and pressing overhead like great canvas pavilions. Mighty stone walls older than living memory began to press in from all sides as she writhed on the trailing sage runner, the stained glass in the arched windows cracking and shattering over the guests as the smooth gray rocks suddenly became too heavy to bear after centuries of strain, the durable double doors splintering to a million tiny shards that impaled those seated closest to the back. Filtering through the newly opened church windows, the sunlight had transmuted itself into great licking tongues of fire that sizzled and scolded the flesh of any unfortunate enough to be near by the portals; one guest gowned in more feathers than a single species of bird had on its entire body lit up like a candle, spreading the engulfing flame by the slightest of touches. The ordained minister had droned on and on from decades of practice, his words becoming fainter and fainter as the floor at his feet carried him what seemed to be miles away, and the choir let out songs of misery and death as the bride swooned, the groom and father both kneeling at her side before gravity claimed her for its own. Dark hair spilled from beneath a net of glittering white moonstones, brushing along the side of the cheek resting upon the highest step of the alter, silvery eyes bright as the diamonds glittering upon her neck and clouded as she grunted in pain at the wild squirming in her abdomen, vaguely aware of the carnage raging all around as the child inside her womb demanded to be born at that very moment. Softly, voice cracking and breaking and nearly silent amongst the screams and disasters, the bride and mother-to-be begged for the two at her side to help the baby, but neither paid the child any mind; instead they were bickering about how best to protect the woman herself, not a word spared on the child. What was wrong with them, didn't they realize that the baby was the most important thing in the world? Once her answer might have been different, but now...

Screaming out as the nightmare culminated in the shimmering, fist-sized cerulean crystals of an ornate chandelier about to crash to the floor and slay the remainder of the fancy yet mostly unknown shadow wedding party, Robin's dust-colored eyes flashed open quicker than any metal dagger could move, and she was wide awake; mentally running the tally of what was real and what was only in the dream, the bird didn't need to brush the toned flatness that had been her belly, but she did. Alive, not in any immediate danger that she was aware of - unless Skynet had just activated itself and judgment day was upon them all - and certainly not engaged to be married, the young woman's hand touched only hard muscle beneath borrowed cotton, so far from pregnant that the teen couldn't fathom the thought of the soft swell of a baby. Strictly speaking it wasn't entirely impossible as they were overly enthusiastic when they actually could steal a moment to enjoy the pleasure of the other's company as a couple (somehow as friends they still found odd breaks to keep in contact), but those moments proved to be harder to come by than they had both imagined at the start. The athlete knew as well as the lethal weapon that they aught to have been more careful when it came to that kind of thing, but when one lived everyday guessing when their other half might return for a small respite between missions, that wasn't the easiest thing in the world in its own right, and at least for them, the first thought in either of their minds when alone wasn't about repercussions or precautions. More often than not, it was about relieving weeks of loneliness. Sometimes they'd have to wait even longer than that though, as it might look a tad bit suspicious even to the likes of Barry if Chris spent too much of his free time hanging around with the bird, or her going to town every day that the soldier was back. It was a hefty toll that cost so much from the first kiss on, and it seemed to erode a little bit more from the duo with each passing day, be it strength or patience or even the tragically misguided hope that someday they might be forgiven for this betrayal, but it was the price they chose when they had first embraced in that bathroom, and if they had to do it again, it would be the same choice each time.

Beckoning the girl into his home and bed - such as they were - for the next two days while her parents were miles away on their generously paid second honeymoon and the girls would be entertained by their friends for a weekend sleepover (the pilot's own schedule carefully tailored for this weekend well in advance), they finally told her parents the truth of where'd everyone would be should they try to contact any of the kids, and Chris had assured Robin that there was never any alternative in his mind if someone had pressed repeat and they had been forced to echo reruns. For better or worse, there was no going back to that time when it had been simple and innocent, free of the entanglement of sheets and feelings, or sheets at least, as the fondness and empty ache had always existed. Had the officer also been a conman, his little bird would have been a favorite victim if only for the fact that the lamb swallowed his most saccharine turn of phrase as if it were the very nectar of life itself, and in the rare event that it had ever come to his pet's mind to question him, all it took to assuage her phobias was one sweet brush of the lips, at worst a tender word on the shell of the ear. Thankfully for the child's own sake Chris was not that man, yet there were times when he laid awake at night pondering the situation that the aviator often felt that the monster he was was far more atrocious, for that little girl was so wrapped in him it was only a matter of time until his enemies came to use her as pawn of their own if her own heart didn't betray them first, or worse... At this point there was little hiding that Robin was more than a mere drug to him - the most precious of alloys, the boldest of elixirs, and the ultimate addiction that brought the lion's share of exhilaration when they were together and the stagnation of infectious venom itching in his veins when they were apart, it was easy to see that this one would be the death of him.

Almost feeling at times as if he were no longer in control of himself when it came to his lady love - the hatchling fowl the soldier had loved as the dearest, most treasured of platonic friends for years - the man could taste it in the breaths she took as she curled up at his side, could see it reflected in her eyes as she gazed at him with unlimited adoration before drifting off, and he sensed it in his very core that even in these bitter-sweet months together, it was her love that would end him. Taken political hostage by some jumped-up kid with a gun and ties to the black market bio-organic virus trade or even some acrimonious leftovers of Umbrella that targeted only the Burtons, it was inevitable that she would open her mouth and say with courage and stupidity and confidence that her soldier would come for her, leading to the connection that the legendary Chris Redfield had an exploitable weakness. In general it was scarcely a secret that he cared for the wellbeing of others, but if the enemy was clever enough, they would pick up on the fact that it was more than that with Robin, and they would twist that to their advantage, exploiting the bond. Either way there would be a bullet in the chamber pointed at his head, the hand holding the gun most likely smug as they went on and on about the foolishness of loving others, and in that position, made he might even wonder if they weren't right, because if hadn't loved her, things never would have ended up that way. Or maybe it wouldn't end as just another causality of war; perhaps it would be out in the field for his haste and would have nothing whatsoever to do with the foe's hand, or maybe the withdraws of missing her smile would make him reckless and he would just grab for her in the presence of her father. Hell, it might even be her own hand that plunged the knife into his chest, but however it happened, he could see now that she would be the bodiless will-o-the-wisp that led him to the grave if he let her, and he had to admit that at this rate she would be not only the jury, judge, and executioner in one but also the hand that led him to the grave and beyond, her form likely the one he saw as he met with his ultimate fate, her still-living soul on earth the bound widow in black.

Married or not by the time it came to bury his remains, it didn't matter that they weren't the other's first, because there was a force of destiny between the two that could never be unwritten, and no matter what came their way, there would always be a kind of love between them that could never diminish, no matter what. Chris Redfield had loved Robin - Varis, Burton, whatever one wanted to call her as - and she loved him in return. "Another nightmare?" As of late the jock had been having a rather alarming amount of them and their unwelcome ilk, but considering how another year since surviving the horrors of her past had gone, it was hardly surprising that she was so ill-at-ease, "Do you want to talk about it, Little Bird?" He had never met her family from what he could tell, but the soldier had grown to greatly dislike the biological parents just from the contents of her dreams, and from the tales he had gleaned from the others as well, the picture painted clearly and effortlessly gave away the reasons she spoke so coldly of the people that had brought her and her brothers into the world. When it came to nightly visions of the life his little bird had now, the secret affair they lived was easily breeding grounds for all manner of disturbances and exaggerated wraiths, so reports of sleeping specters hungry for truth and blood were to be expected, although that didn't make the pilot any less attentive when she recounted the unseen dreamscapes and familiar fantasies. In truth, the only slumbering trances that troubled Chris any were the ones that involved traces of their own future, even if it they were only fragments of a whispered thought, because even those could eventually grow into full ideas if given the proper attention and care.

Not the worst nightmare she had ever had and sharing in her boyfriend's apprehensions about what it all could mean, the teen shook the unexpected wake-up call from her mind as she sat up in Chris' arms, gazing across the room from the images of destruction blinking across the television screen to the look of alarm in his face as he gazed down at her sudden start - from the expression he wore, the scream had been real and it had been loud. Great, just great; Robin hated worrying Chris more than she had to, and it seemed to her that he liked to worry about every tiny thing that went wrong for her. Shivering more from the contents of the dream itself than from any sort of actual cold in the air, the teen yanked at the woolly moonlight-colored throw pooling at her feet, wrapping it around her shoulders all the same - the athlete cherished her brave knight dearly but marriage? Hell, the female was still waiting on the day they no longer had to hide their relationship from the world, and he knew that kids were a deal-breaker for the bird, so he should know that those nightmares terrified her just as much as they panicked him! Life-threatening emergency or just a whim, there was nothing that the jock wouldn't do for her sisters, and even after fifty years she would still adore her brothers more than life itself, but there was just no conceivable way in hell that the youthful athlete was prepared to bite that bullet, and thankfully Chris was right there with her. No kids, no marriage, just the two of them enjoying what time they could steal between work and school and her father; it was far from the perfect way to handle things, but it was working for the time, so why fix what wasn't broken? Of course it would have been so much more preferable if they could be even a little more forthcoming about what she was doing after school that was neither work nor sports - or random errands in the soldier's case - but that sadly still wasn't an option.

"It's nothing..." Attempting to be brusque and coy about it at the same time, Robin was as loath to bring it up as he was to hear about it, but he had asked after all, and at least at that stage in the liaison there was was no deception, so the words came sooner than later and the teen found herself describing yet again a church-set scene of their failed union, "Maybe its just a sign that we're not supposed to take things further at the moment. Really I wouldn't mind getting to keep those pesky suitors away for good by telling them I was in a committed relationship-" and by that she meant Bex, her little wanna-be goth friend that fancied the bird in a way that she would never return, "-but I suppose that it's nice enough just getting these little moments." Perhaps it was just a touch for dramatic effect, but whatever it was behind the sigh, Chris could hear a kind of genuine sorrow in her tone that would miss even this, "This is actually kind of perfect though, I have to admit. Just you and me, no family, no drama, no worrying about this lunatic or that. Just me and you. Although," At first this thought wasn't even on her radar, but admittedly after some time had passed the girl got to wondering about if they were to become three, if he would care at all or if it would be like the dream and he only had eyes or her safety. At times in that dream, it didn't seem like anyone else even knew that she was supposed to be carrying a child, despite being one sermon short of popping on the spot. "Hypothetically speaking, if that were to happen and we suddenly became we three (or four or whatever)...?"

Dammit, this was the very thing he had been fearing since the instant she crawled into his arms and nestled inescapably close to his heart, "But you're not pregnant, so do we really have to have this conversation now?" If the lounging lady hadn't been curled up against him before the start of this lovely little chat, Chris probably would have edged away from the conversation until the opportunity to bolt arose - he loved Robin more than he could say, but he really,_ really_ wasn't ready to put up his arms and settle down, not even for her. "Once the unthinkable happens we'll cross that bridge when - and _if_ - it comes up, but until then we shouldn't have to sweat out every little scenario you get into your head." It was all probably the wrong thing to say to her, especially at that moment when it was all still so fresh in the jock's mind, but it was the truth from where he sat; even though they were being dumber than a teenager after taking his dad's medicine without reading the warning label first and were just going at it like rabbits because of the intended effects, it still wasn't likely that she'd actually be moronic enough to let something like that happen. Jill had told him before they left Barry's that summer that she had given Robin her leftover lady pills, just in case the teen wasn't able (or as he later found out himself cautious enough) to stock up on the wonder drugs, so the soldier knew that there was no excuse for the teen losing their safety net, which obviously ensured the prevention of unwanted pregnancies. Too bad it didn't work on her pissy-ass mood though...

Incensed about that last comment and resenting it (and maybe partially resembling it as well), Robin jumped so hastily to her feet for a moment it seemed as if she had suddenly sprouted wings from her back as black as pitch, but it was only the fan of her hair, "Ohh! I'm not crazy! And do you mean by that?! When? What when?! If?! _If_?! Are you implying that my womb is some kind of dried up, infertile husk?! Mark me Redfield, you are so lucky that I just got off my period a few days ago-" which would have accounted for the foul mood-swings, "-or else I would... I don't know! Urgh, you make me so mad sometimes!" All he did was blink at her, and that set her off anew, "I'd take my _lady products_," the bird enunciated that last bit to let him know that she was mocking him, "and make a big old mess of the place! Fucking take my tampons and shove 'em where the sun don't shine, but only after doing some redecorating for you! Hope you like the color red, asshole." Seething and nearly foaming at the mouth by the time he gabbed for the girl's wrist to reel her back in, Chris gently pulled her back down to the couch so the little warrior princess could catch her breath, not heeding a word that she said in that fit of rage. By this point, he had learned that it was better to just block out her juvenile rants. "Hmph," once she was calmer, the girl stuck out her lip at him, sulking, "I'm not infertile yet. If I wanted a kid it would be more than easy enough to make happen!" A sudden idea seized the young muscle miss at that moment, and it was one she knew they'd both enjoy, if she cared to let him, "Care to see how I'd do it? First," the teen batted her lashes as if moments ago those eyes hadn't just been glaring death at him, straightening her back so that he had the best possible view of her in his shirt, "I'd seduce some poor sap - you're looking really svelte, have I told you that lately? - and then I'd put my hand _here_," sliding her hand from wherever it had been during the outburst to his inner thigh to somewhere a bit higher, the bird flashed him one of those devilish grins that gave away her intentions better than any words ever could, "and then I'd kiss him here," quickly pecking a trail along his neck as she climbed into his lap, the teen slowly began her descent, "and here, all the way down..." And she did mean all the way down, bless her soul!

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><p>Author's Notes: Barry is God after all. Ok, so maybe not, but he is if you watch RAB Toons. If you haven't checked them out yet, you should totally do so right now on Youtube! They are hilarious, and sadly in need of a bigger audience! Fine if you guys won't pay me any heed, but if you're a fan of Resident Evil (especially the early stuff), you really should give them a look!<p>

Because boyfriends and girlfriends talk to each other about sex stuff, like Pillow Pants and Lister fiend. Lol. Anyways, yeah, I finally joined together the apparent fan opinion of Chris with what I see him as, at least in terms of the story. Ah, good ol' dumb, druggy Chris. ^^(see above note). For the record, she's just cranky and emotional - there really isn't a baby. Please don't judge me too harshly for this chapter - I was working really late into the next dy on it, so I'm really sleepy now. In fact, I think I'm off to bed as we speak, night all ^^ Be good little boys and girls, or else the mean old dot monster might come and get you. Peace.

To **hooray4natasha**, for being so darn knowledgeable and having such great tastes!

Music: "Come What May" by Ewan McGreggor and Nicole Kidman. Again, they sing it, although I'm not a hundred percent about who wrote this one... I want to say that Elton John was involved in one the songs that inspired the _Moulin Rogue_, which would make it so much more deliciously ironic, but no, I think it was someone else who did this particular ditty. Either way, the reason I said it would be ironic is because I was going to go all Lion King since two chapters ago (think less _Circle of Life_ and more _Can You Feel The Love Tonight_), but now that I'm here and working on the chapter, it just doesn't feel right anymore. Urgh, working on it several songs flitted through my mind, but none of them were right... Until I realized that this one was just what I was looking for!

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	23. Poisoned With Love

Fixing him with a 'don't think this conversation about kids is over just yet, sir' kind of look, Robin figured that the topic of even the accidental expanding of the line could be put on ice for a bit longer, because for one the soldier's plot to wear her out so the teen was too tired to carry on the train of thought had been executed perfectly, and for another thing the athlete found she rather enjoyed just getting to lounge about freely without worrying about getting caught by this person or that. Sure, they had coincidentally happened to find themselves at the same chain of hotels once or twice within a few hours of each other (which any overlapping time had been his wallet's treat), so there had been moments where they let it all loose and just enjoyed the freedom, and this wasn't the first time she had been over to his place to play, but this was the first time they could really let it all go and not have to fret about the clock in the back of their minds. It was a nice feeling actually, getting all the time in the world to just relax in a pair of strong arms and savor the sensation of two sweaty bodies at peace, laying as one in an unbroken union of hearts, not a thought about how long the moment could last before someone came looking for one of them (which meant Barry or Kathy calling the kid home for dinner). Twining her fingers in the spaces between his own - where they fit so perfectly it was as if their bodies had been tailor-made for the other - the bird pressed herself deeper in her lover's embrace, lips lightly touching his own as their gazes locked, nothing harsh in their depths but the magnitude of just how much they cared about each other, and how dear this moment was to the both of them.

"Chris," Robin's breath was a soft sigh when it parted from the two plush peach halves that were her labrum, the avian whispering to the aviator as if afraid that speaking too loudly would ruin this waking dream, "I wish that this moment could last forever, that time could freeze and we would be allowed to just stay here like this, warm, and happy, and just so..." Catching herself, she had been about to say 'in love', but no matter how true that feeling was in the heart, neither had been sure when they could actually say it out loud and put it out there for the whole universe to hear. The pilot urned to say it as much as the jock did, but the words were so strong, and if it came out too soon that could somehow spell out doom for the secret lovers, even if he failed to see the repercussions. "This has to be what heaven is like, don't you think? At least my version of it will be this, but our bodies would never tire, and we'd stop only when we wanted to, for moments like these so I can spend at least one eternity lost in those brown beauties. And I'd have a bitching soundtrack in the background that fit the current situation, but aside from that, I wouldn't change any of it if this is what's waiting for me on the other side." Well in truth if the girl even did get to go into the light - which the athlete sincerely doubted for many reasons - she'd also like to be able to see her family, both Varis and Burton (when it was their time to join her) alike, and her friends when it was possible, but that would have been a mouthful and just would have sounded greedy. Greedier than she deserved to be. "What about you Chris? How do you envision heaven to look?"

Nirvana, heaven, the Promised Land, utopia, Zion, Arcadia, or Elysium, it didn't matter what one wanted to call the hereafter, because in the instant that his Little Bird asked, the soldier-prince was convinced that it was already here on earth, and it was in the most unlikely of disguises: not a place or even a moment in time as she claimed, the wonderland Shangri-la was the woman in his arms, anchored in his heart. It wasn't all about what was on the outside for him, but the serviceman did have to admit that the so-called 'pearly gates' were truly the lush twin pillows of her lips grazing against his, especially in that naughty little taunting way she had. So far as he was concerned, the judgment of a man's worth was found not in the condemning tones of the angels but in the cavernous hollow of her mouth as she obliged to take as much of him inside her jaws as she possibly could, her tongue pleasantly exploratory even still, hands anything but idle at her side. Though the existence of God was questionable enough thanks to the advent of modern science, if there was a higher power responsible for it all, for this soul it came in the guise of those perky young breasts that bounced in his hands and molded attentively at his command; so round and pale, his favorite place to converse with 'god' was face-to-face. For even a glimpse of the almighty's power - and the curvy figure that belonged solely to him - Chris could easily understand when he attended his own version of church why man would war against each other, because really the true pleasure of it all came in the eden between her legs, the moans and sighs meant just for him a private choirs of angels. Soundly a woman made, her body was all the salvation the soldier needed, her heart and mind the prayers that purified his sin and gave protection and comfort, every inch of her the Almighty and the Fallen in one; every time they made love it was a sin and a holy act of blessing. That was what Chris felt beating in his breast, but instead he found himself saying, "Claire asked me that once, a long time ago. I told her that all I want is to protect those that can't protect themselves, but it would be nice to get see everyone I ever loved again. I stand by that, but..." embarrassed for maybe the first time in what felt like forever, the soldier shook his head and averted his eyes from Robin (and that was a feat in its own, since every inch of her was out in full display, begging to be seen), "I would miss them, but I wouldn't hate having just you by my side for an eternity or two."

_Oh, Chris, if you only knew! _Finding that to be the single-most sweetest, most beautiful thing the soldier ever could have said to the girl (or likely ever would say to her), the words to express just how much that meant were lost in translation if they had ever existed in the first place, but still the female jock had thought to search for something appropriate to say, although only one thing came to mind. "That was beautiful, I-" Robin was on the verge of uttering that taboo phrase - fully acquainted with what saying it would mean, but still she had been on the cusp of going there - the moment was interrupted by a rather unexpected knock on the door. It wasn't particularly urgent sound as grating as it was, but the audio was loud, implying that the knocker was strong of arm and perhaps impatient. "Are you expecting anyone? Claire maybe, or someone from work?" The teen knew that Chris had taken great care to leave this weekend available just for her, which had left Jill to spend some well-deserved time with her mercenary rogue Carlos, and Billy and Rebecca were busy playing domestics far away, so all that left by process of elimination was his sister (who had known from the beginning that this whole thing had been an accident that had been turned to their advantage) or else an associate. It had to be the later though, because even with their catty issues, the two women had come to set aside their differences for the sake of one they loved, so the redhead wouldn't be here unless she had absolutely no other choice in the matter, and even then she would have called ahead of time so she didn't see her brother like that. Again. No, this had to be a co-worker, or... Shutting down a rampant imagination before she could imagine the worst and literally get worked up over nothing, the bird was on her feet without thinking, yanking the light heather shirt he had just been wearing over head so she could see who was calling at this most inopportune time. Peering through the little glass hole in the door otherwise known as a peephole, the jock saw an unfamiliar head full of dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes like ice, "It's some guy. He's well-dressed. Do you know who that is?"

Chris thought he knew who his lady was talking about from the brief description she gave, but assuming for a moment that he was right (obviously his first guess was wrong, as Wesker wasn't about to just invite himself over for Sunday Brunch (although knowing his former cpatain that kind of atrocity would be right up his ally)) it didn't make any sense why Leon would be visiting him, especially now of all times and without warning. Mind racing to his little sister and the shenanigans she could get up to when he was off the grid, the man was deeply concerned about what this appointment might mean, so like any good older brother he beckoned for the teen to let the stranger in as he scrambled around for pants and to hide the evidence of their activities, thinking to himself that it wouldn't do for a government agent to see a relationship that was technically illegal. Being his friend and not knowing Robin personally if he was even aware of the teen's actuality in the first place (hell if he knew what Claire said about the girl), it might not even come up that the two were a thing and that she was a tad too young to be bedding, but that was a chance he didn't care to take. Leon was an honorable enough guy, and even though the blonde had been greatly helpful in the past to both Redfield personally and the agency professionally, his higher-ups may or may not have retained a tight chain on their favorite little pet.

Waiting for admittance on the other side of the door and pondering if he should try knocking again, Leon S. Kennedy looked back over his shoulder at the sound of small paws padding across the wind-whipped lawn; chunky with light chestnut fur, a bushy-tailed squirrel darted from one side of the creeping grass (the apple-bright yard had maybe been attended to as recently as a few short days ago, yet it was nearing the need of another trim) to the other. Bounding up the one tree on the property like a brown bolt of ascending lightening, the critter quickly vanished amongst healthy green limbs stretching into the watery azure sky from a long sleep. It was true that the gardening could be a bit more tidy overall and the blood-drop rose bushes climbing the rough exterior less wild and thorny, but Chris' place was nice enough on the outside, the pale painted porch wrapping from the front to the first window on either side like a smile, the plain metal mailbox perched atop a low wrought-iron fence. It was impossible to see from this angle, but it sounded as if there was a bug-and-leaf catcher skidding over the water of a pool in the backyard - for a house that was undoubtedly purchased as a resting place for what few possession the soldier had, it seemed like a good home, so the agent wondered what his actual home home would be like. Assuming that Redfield had actually thought to quit the business of saving the lives of the innocent and settle down, which from what he knew of the man from their limited encounters and what Claire had said of her sibling, that didn't sound very possible. Turning back once more to the door, Leon knocked again.

Standing by the door with one hand over the knob, Robin glanced passed the mahogany bookshelves opposite the door, gray eyes bouncing over the framed music posters and an autographed scrap of paper from his youth, checking on the progress Chris had made; her jeans were still conspicuous for their bright zippers, though thankfully they were crumpled so much that all she had to do to hide them was stand in just the right spot. Back in his own olive-colored sweatpants and putting on his shirt from the previous night - a lacy lilac push-up bra just visible behind the lopsided cushions on the couch - neither was paying much attention to the holy hell the teen looked as she fumbled slowly with the door to buy Chris some more time, ebony hair a wild tangle of jet and obsidian, skin still damp with sweat that was soaking through the fabric. Pulling down on the bottom of the shirt at the last possible moment to make sure that the most important parts were covered, the athlete opened the door to the stranger, who took no time at all noticing that the only thing covering her body had been put on backwards _and_ inside-out, although fortunately he had more tact than to point out that something wet and slick was trailing down one side of her thigh. Frowning at the look of what she took to be disapproval, when the jock moved aside to allow access to the hall there was a slight wince in every step she took, however, what really bothered the female was the way that the pretty-boy judged her. He didn't know her, so who the hell was he to condemn her for her personal choices?! It was a free country last she checked, so by that reasoning alone, the teen could love whomever she wanted to love, however, whenever, and where ever she damn well wanted to!

Realizing as he stepped passed her that the girl was even younger than Claire, the blonde figured that Chris had tastes and issues that didn't bear looking into; age aside, the young woman wasn't terrible looking (even with the glare in those livid slate pools), and though the experienced muscle underneath her skin hinted to have cost her a cup-size, that backside more than made up for all the rest. Maybe this girl was eighteen (or older) or maybe she wasn't, but the paperwork would have been a nightmare if he cared to recall this meeting for the bigwigs - the agent hoped that none of this would have to be on the books in the first place - and anyways, man-to-man, he certainly couldn't fault the pilot for desiring an ass like that. "Did I interrupt a play-date?" Making friends, that greeting earned a growl from the girl and a very guilty non-verbal confession from the soldier as he cast a long glance over at his youthful companion, "Chris, I need to talk to you about Claire." Picking up on the instantaneous flip of a switch in the mood and sense of urgent tension that hastily filled the air like a toxin, the blonde agent shook his head to ease the tone of the conversation, "You can relax, she's fine as far as I know. As her brother, you should know better than anyone else all of the good she's done, and I wanted to do something nice for her." Sparing another sideways gander at the unidentified female, Leon shrugged in her direction, "Isn't Dora the Explorer on?"

Ordinarily the avian would have snorted at the ever-growing Claire fanclub, unable to hold her aversion for the auburn haired survivor back even for her lover's sake, but the bird's mounting distaste for the striking blonde stranger was rapidly coming to overshadow any prior animosity, so she merely glared at him, eyes flashing dangerously, "If it means so much to you, Chris and I could start brainstorming while you watch it then. Once it's over the adults can wipe away the spittle on your face, and you can share whatever meager ideas you've tried to cook up in that pretty little head of yours, and then I can tell you how dumb each of them are in turn. I'll try and use small words so you can keep up, but if that's still too much for you I can draw up a chart." Chris knew what a mood Robin was in beforehand so the insults were only somewhat shocking to him, but the use of the word 'pretty' tipped the soldier off that it could have been something more behind her spiteful words: he was fairly certain that this was their first time meeting, so it wasn't anything preexistent; if it was't an event from the past, all it could have been was an attraction. If he squinted his eyes really tight, the pilot could see how some might consider the blonde to be appealing, but... "Hmph, who do you think you are anyways? Just showing up here uninvited. That's just rude."

_Yes, he was obviously the rude one here, that was it. _This dame might have had a sweet rear-end, but her mouth was anything but, "Maybe once you graduate high school we can debate about who's the more intelligent, but until then little girl, I think you're confused and mixing up which of us likes Dora the Explorer - I'm more partial Fear Factor myself." Judging from the dark look that flashed across that bitter countenance, the girl was also fond of the show and its gross-out endurance tests, or maybe she just had a school-girl's crush on the host. Either way, she was visibly familiar with the title. "Chris," he turned to the owner of the house and not the brazen little princess that spoke for him and acted as if she owned it, "sorry I didn't call you with this, but my phone fell into the laundry and I lost your number." And naturally if he had asked Claire for the number, she would have asked why he wanted to talk to her brother. "So what do you say?" What did he say? What did he say?! The first thing on his lips wanted so badly to be a warning to stay away from his girlfriend (plus this one was old enough to legally punch and rip a new one), that if Leon looked at her even once more he'd rip his eyeballs out with the blunt part of his knife, but there was the smallest of chances that he was just being paranoid and was imaging the friction between the other two, so the soldier kept his mouth shut and simply nodded his consent. Pleased to hear it and none the wiser to how he was that close to having to run around with an eye patch or a false eye, the agent grinned at the brother of his friend and fellow Raccoon survivor, equally ignorant of the fact that the girl had escaped from the same traumatic ordeal, "Then let's get to work before the little girl has to take her afternoon nap."

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><p>Author's Notes: As Gune from <em>Titan A.E<em>. says, "I took a little nap!". Or was it "I'm back from my nap"? Hmm, it's been a long while since I watched that movie, I really can't remember... Maybe it was "I finished my nap"? I think it was the last one, but... Either way, I went to bed and I'm rested up! Just in case anyone was wondering, but I doubt it. Meh, anyways I didn't mean to offend any beliefs or to even bring anything like religion into it, but that's just what happened as I wrote. Believe what you will, and let others believe what they will, that's my philosophy on the matter. Personally the religious bit (if you can call it that) has been one of my favorite things to write! Whatta buyin' Strangah? The bit about Leon being some guy that was well-dressed was a nod to the old school Resi. That's one way to meet someone, isn't it? I meant for Chris to have the right of it, but maybe that came out more as the two just hating the other? All I can say to defend myself is I've been watching too many Resi parodies these days.

Thank you once more for the reviews **hooray4natasha**, may you kill all those damn Cerberus and Crimson Heads!

Music: "Poisoned By Love" by Neon Hitch. This song has been on the list since maybe the third or fourth chapter (almost definitely since the fifth), and now I can finally use it with effectiveness! Originally I had it in my mind that it would be played more from Robin's perspective, where she was concerned about him straying and just how in love with him she was, but things have a funny way of working out, and now that the whole thing with Leon has played out (I thought of introducing him much later, but the way I envision that plot line to work it would make more sense if they met beforehand), it works so much better this way, thinking of it more from Chris' point of view. Honestly I think the song would fit equally well between the both of them at this point, but this way now pretty much every lyric works, not just most of them.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	24. Beautiful Sinner

All but shoving Leon out the front door once their business had come to the day's conclusion - there was still work to be done, but together the three of them had made a considerable dent in the workload - Chris stared across the room with his elbows resting on the beaten kitchen table and fingers steepled beneath his chin as he studied the teen, her form bending this way and that as she put away the blueprints and tools of scheming and searched for something to make them for dinner. When the opportunity arose the bonny athlete had found her pants on the floor and had put them on in the hallway where she wouldn't be seen, but sadly the jewel-bright threads calling themselves underwear seemed to be missing from action (in a safe place, the soldier was privy to their exact location, however it wasn't in his mind at the moment to see them returned). Now that the civilized company was gone and it was just the two of them in this house once more, something stirring in the pilot's blood this entire time told him that their state of dress wasn't going to last the night, that something would be flying by his hand and tears would be flowing from silver by the end of the meal, that sooner or later one name would fade into the night, and only one. _Chris_, the heated echo of so many trysts cried all at one time, begging him to ride her harder, _Chris_, the soft, satisfied sighs of his name dropped from her tongue like honey when he held her in his arms, basking in the afterglow, _Chris_, a moan, whimper or whispered murmur, his was the only name to grace her lips when the girl was in a loving mood, or when she was terrified, or when she was just in the need of friendly company and a laugh. His was the only name she knew, the soldier's strong hand the only one allowed caress her supple form, the pilot's 9mm the first, last, and only gun she'd take in her holster, and most importantly, his heart the only one she wanted. It wasn't like he was jealous of Leon or the way that he got under Robin's skin or anything, but it was just the right time to remind his sweet Little Bird who she was with and why.

Staying the pale hand shifting through cobwebs and protein shakes with just one word, Chris called over to the young woman, summoning her faithfully to his side as if she had been a trained serving girl of old, "No, I want something else for dinner." Questioning him mutely with naught but a glance, the teen jutted out her hip even further than it usually tilted, a small smile of understanding spreading across those lovely cheeks as she drank in the wolfish way he was staring her down, her hands finding a comfortable nook on his shoulders to grab him. Imagining a scenario that was part sexy interrogation and all lap dance with a happy ending, it was a fun little game that they had played before, but this time was different, and the time for games had passed - snatching her wrist from his person with a certain kind of force that was just shy of actually hurting the girl, the aviator took her by surprise and thrust her backwards into the wooden ledge. "You may have my heart in the palm of her hand, but I'm not about to sit back and watch you crush it for fun." He trusted that if he was truly frightening her she would speak up and if at any point she was in pain he'd feel it in turn (with interest), so he stood up from the chair, not caring as it skittered back and fell over, "I'm not going to be made a fool in my own home, so if you have any doubts about us, speak up now." Taking her silence for consideration, the curve of her mouth as an answer, and the tender brush of her free hand against his cheek as a promise, the fighter placed his other hand over hers as he retained his grasp on the most practiced wrist, leaving it to linger for a moment before throwing it aside. As much as he loved this woman, now wasn't a time for tenderness and sentiment...

Pinning her against the table with one knee grinding between supple twin stalks, Chris gazed down at Robin as she blinked up at him with doe eyes made of such an attentive and shiny silver gunpowder that it distracted him for a moment, reminding him of the miserable little orphan girl he had taught to throw knives like a champ, of that scrawny kid that sat by side during that Sunday matinée a year ago - maybe if there was time, he could take her the movies tonight, but if that was out of the question, tomorrow for sure. Lovely, but for now the theater was for the next life - this one would be spent in pious devotion of his most wicked savior. Puzzling out what new vice to taste now that the demoness was was all his to command, the holy light cast aside for a prayer of damnation, a thousand and one options came rushing to the brain all at once, each more enticing than the last; figuring that he would enjoy the best bits of them all, the starting line was obvious almost at once. _Yes, of course!_ Doing that would make it all so clear to the bird if she was still blind and could not see the light; slowly snaking the hand that had been restraining her wrist up the length of her arm, he coiled his own joint about until her jaw was cupped in his grasp, thumb brushing her lower lip as he guided her forward into an achingly gradual kiss. To convey that this anger and whatever else was only a temporary aliment, it had to be sweet at first, but lacking the patience to hold back anymore, it quickly escalated to the height of passion, ending in the coppery taste of blood as he accidentally bit down too hard on her soft summer peach, the tiniest dribble of fruit juice and seed raining parallel along the seams. Contrary to what he had been anticipating, the teen seemed to like it, because when they broke apart she grinned at him and smeared the liquid scarlet like it was lipstick, first kissing his lips and then his hand, and then his heart, right over the top of his shirt. So what if remnants of the blood had stained a crusty rust-brown later, it was her own private seal, a silent way to scream that she loved him, that she was his and he was still hers. Leon seemed almost a distant memory as the bird left her mark, the soldier seizing her once more to trap her, but this time he sat her on top of the table, so he could unbutton her confusingly tight jeans and shimmy her from the prison, or at least part of the way.

Half to limit her range of movement and half just because he was already eager enough to mount her then and there, the pilot left the removal unfinished, hands roaming from the bunched up fabric to the smoothness of her inner thigh in less than a fraction of a motion; biting down in anticipation as the abrasive surface of his thumb skimmed her little pink button, the pressure sent out a fresh wave of gore gushing from the break of skin. Rougher and bloodier than they'd ever allow things to get before, the soldier returned many an unreturned favor as he lowered his head between her legs, redressing the inequality of visits down south. Squirming above on the flat surface of the pedestal and trying her hardest to remain steady as two very different kinds of lips met, it felt like no time at all that her fingers wove themselves through his umber locks, nails digging into his scalp as she guided him in the right direction, body shuddering like a leaf in a hurricane when he found it. Breaking the silence as suddenly as a cool autumn breeze snuffs out a lone candle in an unattended window, Robin grunted out his name in a wave of growing ecstasy, calling for him in the deepening darkness of the settling evening gloom; still light even when the government's dog had left the premises, there had been no need for a lamp, but now the darkness was falling fast. At the rate the velvety blackness enveloped the couple, their silhouettes growing hazy at the edges as the screen blurred out the points where two bodies became one, it was a real question as to which would come first - the night, in all its glittering splendor, or the girl as her man brought an unparalleled happiness she had never experienced before in the rough way he handled her. Moving on their own accord by that point, Chris could tell by the swaying of her hips - mild tremors at first, the mortal pendulum wagged with increasing intensity and a burning fervor that nearly matched his own - that she was very close.

Good, she was exactly where he wanted her to be, torn between the cusp of the glowing stars in space and begging for it, "No, not just yet," smirking down at the trashing maid writhing beneath his mercy, the pilot reminded her of something she had pulled on him not that long ago, "after all, it was you that told me that its so much better when you have to wait for it." Groaning, the teen rolled around as best she could on the tabletop, itching and burning and suffering with a remedy that close, knowing that he wouldn't allow that magical moment to happen until he had whatever it was that he wanted - much longer like this, and she was liable to do just about anything (because there was so much that she had denied him before now). Planting an airy, patronizing smooch on her brow, the pilot liked the face she made when she wasn't the one calling the shots and had to take a dose of her own medicine - perhaps it would be worth considering putting her in more positions similar to this. "Is my Little Bird pouting?" Grin growing (and not the only part of him that was in an expanding flux), the warrior brought her hand to his zipper, letting the hardness she discovered there do all the talking for him, "We can do this here, or we can carry the battle to the bedroom, the choice is yours." Some part of him just wanted to remain in place and listen to his hallelujah chorus as it was accompanied by the enthusiastically rapturous squeak of the table, but if they went to the bedroom, there would be additional options for him to unleash on her; often times it was just the two of them in the church they built, reading the verses of an unwritten bible, but it just so happened that he still had a pair of handcuffs from his days in S.T.A.R.S., and the athlete might have left an assortment of goodies as a gift of gratitude for the weekend.

"A good girl would be modest and proper and take the show behind closed doors," ever the vivacious vixen, the dirty little simper on the goddess' face told the man that she had every intention not being that girl she was describing, "then again, a good girl would a lot of stuff that I don't, and would faint at the things I'd do to you... If you wanted me to." The teen had proven herself time and again to be open to suggestion (not that she always took it), but something felt vaguely like a trap to the soldier, and apparently for a reason, "if you don't make me wait. Please, please, please, don't keep me in suspense! Just think Chris, anywhere you want, _anywhere_," the dancer extended her leg out as far as she could in the binding leggings when enunciating her point, "and you won't hear a peep about it." Not a fool by any means - a trait she had honed from her adoptive mother and learned from the woman that birthed her - the bird had noticed how many times the soldier's burning brown glance had lingered on her backside in the course of a day, eyes cupping the posterior even when his hands couldn't, "I know you've been watching my ass." On it was one thing, but there wouldn't be anything going in it. "Do you remember my last recital, when I had those thick black tights? I still have them, if that's what you're into. If not, we are in the kitchen after all, so you could always spank the bad girl with a ladle, or cover me with jam so you can lick it off." Glancing over the hills of heather at what hid lower in the valley than even the eagle could see, the teen started to move her fingers in a circular motion, hand still hovering where her lover had left it when she propped herself up on an elbow for a better look, "Or would you rather I lick something off of you?"

Slightly disquieted by how quick those answers all came to the girl's mouth, Chris figured that a few weeks alone with nothing but raging teen hormones, a hand, and a mind for company would create a number of colorful ideas, and the harsh insanity of having to wait for him was probably really making her desperate and half mad; the suffering hadn't lasted long enough just yet, but she could still be of use to him. Nudging her hand along the bulge in his boxers (though he was technically only in his sweatpants thanks to a certain guest's unexpected arrival), it wasn't long before he felt that thin layer of olive fabric mean next to nothing when her able extremity found itself sharing the space. Somewhat awkward from the angle of how their bodies were situated, that didn't hinder her from wrapping her fingers around his length, tugging gently, "So you can turn the turn tables on me? Little Bird," the soldier's voice came out as husky moan that he the man himself barely recognized, but it had to be his own voice as they were the only two in the room, "you've been practicing," missing the cave of her mouth and how her tongue could dance all around and do such fantastic acts of magic, his preference was clear, but her hand work had improved considerably since the last time they've done this, "good job." Still though, he would have traded the touching for oral any other day of the week, if it wouldn't have interfered with his plans. Oh, such plans he had had for his irresistible god and beautiful church! Picturing it in his mind once more, he thought to himself with a twinge of something like guilt that she should have counted herself lucky that he loved her so much, or else he might have just jumped in without paying his partner any heed in the slightest.

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><p>Author's Notes: You can't tell me that I'm the only one imagining that Chris wouldn't be trying extra hard with Robin after being threated by another candidate for her attention! I'm not saying (nor am I not not saying) that Leon's anything to Robin, but in Chris's mind, he is. Party-planning isn't my thing, can you tell? Although honestly, smutty sex scenes really aren't that easy for me to write either, but at least I tried! And yikes, I looked at the individual chapter hits - it so random! Like numerical chicken pox, lol. Seriously, one chapter has so many views, but the one before it is so extreme all of a sudden. It's amusing (and kinda makes me cry, but not tears of joy). Anyways, I just found it strange and couldn't resist commenting on my findings. Also, I've been reading a lot of Game of Thrones. Song of Fire and Ice. Call it what you will. And yes, believe it or not, this chapter actually did further the plot. Had it gone on any longer, I think that relevance would have been damaged, so that is why I chose to end it where I did.<p>

So much thanks **hooray4natasha**, so much thanks! Like I've said before in my comments section, reviews equal gratitude and a place right here!

Music: "Beautiful Sinner" by Nicki Minaj. Been trying so hard to work in one of her songs! Finally! Anyways, the whole comparison from the last chapter really made this song the perfect choice, plus after what happened with Leon, I can see Chris wanting to show Robin that he's the best choice for her, bow-chica-wow-wow, winky-face, winky-face. ;)

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	25. Even Angels Fall

Sprawled out on top of a kitchen table was not how Robin envisioned herself waking up that next morning (or at all without the involvement of cheap narcotics and hard liquor, if she was to be perfectly honest with herself), although in fairness it wasn't exactly like the teen had expected to find herself actually in a serious relationship with the man of her dreams either, so from where the bird was sitting this whole thing seemed some impossible dream. But it wasn't a dream, as the watery gray-blue light of dawn that crept past the unwieldy curtains hanging half-open could attest; filling the room with a morose light and falling in four copious blocks of rose gold on the bare flesh, there was no hiding the vivid pink crescents indenting the budding hickies that bloomed so spectacularly beneath the shimmering rays. Further proving the reality of the situation was the comforting weight of the masculine body draped over hers like a human blanket, the soldier's body all the warmth her pale naked shape needed in the early morning chill, one forearm draped across her bare breast as the hand held tight to curve of her shoulder, unknowingly restricting movement now that she was stirring. Twisting her head around in a poor imitation of an owl so that she had replaced the deary sight of the plain alabaster ceiling with the much more pleasing countenance of her beloved Chris Redfield, the girl blinked her great gray eyes from the lines of his nose to the curve of his lips as he smiled in his sleep, and with a frown of her own realized that the fuzzy outlining of the world was her own lousy eyesight back on the offensive. Dammit, it was time to put in a new pair of contacts already, and of course, out of everything that she had thought to bring for the weekend (a change or two of clothes, a gift of gratitude that would have to be used another time from the looks of things, allergy medicine for the seasonal air, and even her glasses), the one thing that had been left at home was the box of waiting lenses. Typical. And on the note of things that she should be attending to ASAP, the jock thought to herself that a shower might be pleasant, and if she was able to be stealthy long enough, perhaps breakfast in bed, but first things first, after plying her form out from underneath the pilot, the primary object aught to have been the taking of her 'miracle back-up medicine', as Chris called it.

A precaution that by all rights should have taken precedence over everything else - especially considering how they had just fallen asleep in the other's arms after a very rigorous cardio session - the problem was that when she dug through the tumultuous contents of her backpack (as if the bird had something as girly and as useless as a purse), the pillbox was empty. Destitute. Forsaken. Hollow. "_Fuck_!" Panicking and only concerned about how this could happen - praying every nerve-wracking second she searched that somehow the tablet had fallen from the case and ended up in another part of the bag - the teen paid no heed to how loud her hysteria was getting. When the hand fell on her shoulder out of nowhere amidst an endless stream of muttered pleas, the athlete jumped into the air so high that a handful of rolled up socks fell through the air and bounced along the floor for a short ways; stomach wound tighter than the woven off-white fabric, all the hope she had of finding the pill shattered when the ankle-high tubes rebounded. Turning to face Chris in crushing defeat, there was absolutely no hiding the sorrowful sparkle in her eyes, or the remorse for allowing the exact tally of the inventory to slip her by, so the girl didn't even bother to try; throwing her arms around his neck and falling forward into his arms knowing that he's catch her before she fell, the young woman let it out. Sobbing and wailing, she confessed, "Oh, Chris, it's awful! I mean really terrible!" For as messed up as she was over this, it hit her what this might do to him, about how scared he might get, that they could wind up at her father's favorite place to shop in such a dizzy that his good friend the shopkeeper might overhear and reach certain conclusions. Really anyone could overhear, and the fear might affect the duo so much that all secrecy flew out the window. _If I tell him_, she reflected in her frazzled, half-asleep mind, _Chris might start making stupid decisions, and we could loose everything._ He wouldn't mean to, obviously, but it could still happen. _I can't tell him, I'll just have to pretend..._ Robin hated the idea of lying to Chris even more than she hated lying to her father, and even that was killing her to do, but she loathed the idea of losing her solider more than anything else, _besides, I never got pregnant with that first one, and Kelby saw to it that I was there for him whenever that blonde bastard wanted. _She didn't want to do it, but it was the only way she saw to make sure that nothing changed, "I messed up, I messed up really bad. I forgot to bring a fresh pair of contact lens!"

Wow, really?! Contacts? That was why she was ripping through her stuff like a maniac on rampage and woke him up from such a good dream? Even as a big brother and in such good relationships with so many of that frankly baffling gender, the soldier assumed that he would never come to understand how the female mind worked, no matter how hard he tried. Well, the tired pilot took some consolation at least that it wasn't a serious issue like not having any of her miracle back-up medicine, because he wasn't in such a rush, although if that had been the case and she was out, it would have been an easy enough fix to just go into town earlier than planned and pick her up a supply. In the brief time he had spent with Jill, even the brunette had had her moments of carelessness that ultimately sent them to the market to pick up some spares - in fact, he might even still have a box or two taking up space in the back of his bathroom sink now that he thought about it. It probably would have behooved them both if he could find them and liberate them from that dank darkness, but she seemed set, and anyways, it would be best to hang on to them in case of an emergency. Shaking his head at how the cause of the outburst could have been something so simple as forgetfulness, the soldier offered a sympathetic back pat nonetheless, spying the thick ebony frames she looked so cute in anyways poking up from their half-opened case. Figuring that the teen must have overturned everything at least thrice in her desperate bid at avoiding the spectacles (honestly he had thought she was beginning to come around to them anyways, for whatever reason), he slackened his hold of the trembling leaf in his arms and picked the glasses up from a pool of warring t-shirts, one of them a dusky purple and the other a breezy sky blue with sea-foam stripes. In some way (probably due to the fact that her normal style of dress wasn't so quick to draw unwanted eyes), it was comforting to see that she had packed ordinary shirts and not those skimpy little things that tested him so cruelly. Thank you autumn!

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><p>Author's Notes: Woot, over 400 views and a mini-chapter! To be clear, Robin's not the kind of a girl to be so hard on the party scene, although she is the sort to suffer teenage stupidity and making a god-awful decision when still clouded by sleep. If any excuse could be given for that level of foolishness, but I'm not sure that there is.<p>

**hooray4natasha**, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the praise and positive feedback you've given me, my writing, and this story alike! Writing is my life, so it really means more to me than I can say!

Music: "Even Angels Fall" by Jessica Riddle. Search and search and search some more! Urgh, so hard to find the right song!

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	26. Love Hurts

_A little lie was nothing_, she kept telling herself as they cruised over twisting slate worms inching their way beneath a blazing blue sky and fiery yellow-orange foliage, the traffic blessedly light thanks to it being a sleepy Canadian Sunday after the grueling services had ended for the week; at first glance the heavens appeared to be an unadulterated lake, but on closer inspection the winds carried illusions of their own, buffering along wispy puffs of bone that the deities themselves couldn't bury. To a bird soaring high enough the earth would have seemed a breathy sea of burning amber and inflamed honey searing over an open flame, the breaking white froth of tossing waves a dying emerald that had been speckled with the drab flecks of granite mold, and to a young woman so frightened for her future, it had seemed nothing but a prison and a series of falsities, every family that past a mocking slap that further constricted her heart. Robin had heard innumerable times from countless sources that the truth was the only way to make it work in the end, and even buckled safely in the passenger seat watching the blues mate with grays as the grass devoured the leaves above, the young adult figured that it was probably true. As the liar saw it, once they got to the store before hitting their actual destination (which she had no clue what the soldier was going to surprise her with), Robin had every intention of being forthcoming about the situation after the pill passed her tongue, but until that could happen, he couldn't know why she needed so badly to visit the pharmacy, and her heart would have to ache and cry the whole while. No matter what it did to her mind or cost her soul, the athlete could never never ever lose him. _This was the way it had to be,_ the bird reminded herself as the courthouse blurred by in tedious monochromia, _I love him, and once I have taken my medicine this will go away and mean nothing, and it will be little more than a bad dream_.

"You're awfully quiet there so high up in your nest, Little Bird. I thought you were the raven that sees all and inhales all, not the chicken on the dinner plate." Even focusing on the path before them, her brave soldier-prince could still see that something was troubling his lady love (seeing that firsthand melted her inner organs anew and sent a rush of appreciation for him gushing to her heart, filling it with light once more), "The radio is no substitute for a conversation." Of course he would see that the stereo had been cranked up deliberately so that any sort of a dialogue would be discouraged, even though it was their favorite alum playing in the background (not all of the music they liked was the same, however it was where it counted). Alas, he knew her too well. "You've been silent ever since we left the house, and normally I can't get you to stop gushing about how great I am in bed." Trying to reach her through kind words and humor, the jock felt that if the pilot knew the truth of the matter, it would have curdled the words in his mouth, turning anything sweet to sour. Although in fairness, maybe the teen wasn't giving him enough credit: Zedd was still in one piece, and after everything had been said and done the pilot hadn't punched Bex's lights out yet, and when a 'legitimate' (as if she'd ever!) threat came along, the most Chris did when jealous was prove to her that he was all she would ever need. As if there was ever a misgiving of pursuing their relationship! How could the athlete ever have hesitated in believing in him?! Chris might not have been the brightest bulb in the bunch (not one to talk herself, who could look smart next to a girl that graduated college when most her own age group had barely even started thinking about it?!), but he was intuitive - especially when it came to grasping the deepest corners of herself - and brave, and honest, and just such a great person in every way that mattered!

So much more than just the best person she knew, Chris was the one thing in her life that she never should lack confidence in, "I don't know if I should say it while you're driving, could you pull over first?" Having a renewed sense of faith in him that she had actually always possessed was one thing, but just dropping something as heavy as a confession such as this was just madness when he was behind the wheel, and since the sportswoman didn't care to end her life just yet, it wasn't a chance the teen was about to take. Waiting for a beige station wagon to pull out of the cramped shared parking lot of a used bookstore and a dicey accounting firm so they could pull in and talk, the girl dimly noticed that the other vehicle was loaded with cardboard boxes and a lanky ghost of an ambiguously gray twelve year old buried in a thick tome in the back, a golden retriever curiously poking his head from the front window opposite an old woman with her hair still in rollers. Once the other car had cleared the drive and they were free to pull in, the bird unbuckled the drab safety device and rotated her body so that she was facing Chris so they could converse easier (as if any part of this would be a slice of cake), "I shouldn't have, I know that I shouldn't have,' the avian began as the aviator turned off the engined and mirrored her motions of opening up a dialogue, "but I lied to you. I wish it would have been something stupid and small, a thing we could get over and just laugh about later, but..." Robin braced herself for the fallout as best she possibly could (was it possible to prepare to loose your soul mate?), wondering if his mind went at all to those he saw as her suitors, "it wasn't just my contacts I was panicking about - I ran out of morning after pills." A wave of relief washed through him at the news, telling her that he had been sweating some form of a second thought about them, about him, "I was so scared of losing you, I... I was terrified that you might overreact and freak out, and somehow it would come out that we were together, and I just couldn't bear the thought of having you taken away from me! I know it was wrong, but..."

Obviously Robin had been beating herself up worse than he ever would have over this, although it wasn't as if he were particularly happy about his teen lover chalking him up short; the soldier had refrained from viciously pulverizing any guy who looked twice at her (and in his mind's eye, he had seen a good number of those creeps lurking about for a gander at her rear), and the man had thought he had done good by that. Maybe the pilot should have justed followed his manly gut instinct and decked those troublesome rascals so that his songbird couldn't ever doubt the lengths he'd go to for her sake, even if that didn't make him much better than those other rapscallions at the end of the day. Examining it in his palms as if some celestial judge over the fleeting matters of mankind, a giant mass of energy and light holding fabled scales of shining gold, Chris had no clue which part hurt him the worst hearing her words - the fact that the woman he loved more than anything lied to him in the first place, or how she underestimated him. Perhaps the girl wasn't entirely wrong to question him in general, but this moment was one in which she aught to have had his back; since the lie had come so flawlessly to the table between her tears (where those even real?), the soldier had to wonder if even a fraction of her had taken a second to consider him in the equation, or even if she was going to be bothered to ever tell the full truth of today. It was more than likely that she could have gotten away with keeping this from him for the rest oft heir lives, but... But she had told him, sooner than later. Dammit, even mad at the bird for putting him in this position and trapping him in a public area to prevent a scene, the wounded warrior could still find it in himself to absolve the woman her sins and to understand why she felt compelled to commit them in the first place, even if for the most part he wished she had a dick so he wouldn't feel too badly about knocking her head into the pavement. Even before there was a chance of it all backfiring on her, she had confessed her crimes, and that spoke louder than anything else she might have said in her own defense.

"Please, Chris, please say something!" Despite urging him to speak his mind after an unbearably lengthy stretch of quietness that might have driven them both insane, it was fairly clear to see that Robin was petrified of what could come out of his mouth next, all parts of her seeping remorse for what she had done, berating her brain with harsh reprimands of how she was barely worth his time and interest in the first place, all words coming back to how this just proved how unworthy she really was. Objectively speaking, were her actions things he could come to forgive? In time, perhaps, but for now at least it was an issue that would need to be worked out between the two of them, and the teen could not mistake that in the way he frowned at her, "You're too good for the likes of me." Breaking up with him was the very last thing she wanted, any blind fool could see that, but in her heart that seemed like the best thing to do for him, for his wellbeing and happiness, "I should listen to my heart, to my mind, to whatever is telling me to make you tell me its over, because we both know that's the only way I'll believe it, but I can't do it. I'm too selfish, and I've fallen too far. Or maybe it came at the start. I'm not sure when it happened, but I can't be the better person and let you go, because I love you. I know it isn't fair to-"

Not allowing the girl time to finish that sentence or come up with any more harebrained notions, the soldier stretched across the space between the seats and kissed her lightly, one hand moving to her check to steady the world as it tilted and spun so wildly off its axis, the words on her lips better than any other apology she could have given, although it still wasn't the cure-all for what they had to face as a couple. Chris had thought of this moment no less than the bird had, and in every scenario he had envisioned for the grand reveal, not a one of them started in the front seat of a rental - the house had set him back a bit, and was it was some choice property, yet he still needed a car of his own - and end in a heavy make-out session in front of a used book store and seedy business (which he might be sending in someone in to soon for a look). Not something he would change now that it was happening, the soldier reflected that they might have had more issues than the obvious, that sex and violence were often the first - and usually best if not only - alternative. No matter, they were still very soundly together. "I always thought that I'd be the one to tell you first, and we'd be out at some fancy restaurant that neither of us liked, but as always, you surprise me." Dancing underneath his mouth with some limited difficulty due to spacing, the bird quickly jerked her head up in worry, but as ever he smiled that warm smile at her, thus assuaging all fears in the instant he held some part of her, four simple words falling from his lips before he kissed her once more, "I love you too."

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><p>Author's Notes: So that last chapter was pathetically short, but I can't help it if that was how the cookie crumbled! Well maybe I could have a little, but darn it, it all just worked out the way it did. And anyways, it wasn't technically the shortest chapter, although it was cutting it pretty close in truth. Personally I'd like to think that these last few chapters have not only captured that the relationship is flawed and real, but also moments of just why they work so well. Because thermal underwear and reading the words 'crow' and 'raven' several thousand times in a little over a month don't make for the best conversation starters. Or maybe they do. Seriously though, that was not how I imagined they would tell each other that the loved the other. Truthfully it was one of those moments had hadn't been written in stone in my mind, but still, even I wasn't expecting that to happen when I started this chapter!<p>

A thanks for being on such a similar page and reviewing the longest or the shortest of chapters, sweet** hooray4natasha**!

Music: "Love Hurts" by Nazareth. Perhaps a tad too on the sad side of things, but this is the song I picked for the chapter.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	27. The Call

After finally uttering three of the most sacred, bonding, and meaningful of words - the universe itself the sole witness to such a powerful act of fidelity, respect, and chaste affection - this only seemed like the next natural step to take in the relationship, however that beautiful admittance didn't free the couple from suffering a severe case of the jitters in a crisis such as this. Perhaps calling it a 'crisis' was a bit of an exaggeration, especially considering the fact that winter formal wasn't quite the relevant rite of passage for a teenager, but as unorthodox as the courtship was (the couple themselves not exactly the dictionary definition of 'normal'), the pair agreed it fitting that the important milestone be celebrated. In their contented epoch floating high among the heavens with the principal echelon of saints and angels fair, the twosome had already made a plethora of memories that would last long after the mind failed, but it would be nice if some savored treasures had been fit for the ears of the generations to come. Harboring no small speck of guilt for leading his pet to a fount of poison - so to speak - and by association what had happened after the festivities died away last year, the soldier had missed out on his better half's junior prom, and thanks to the state of the world, it wasn't looking very promising at this rate that he would able to attend the senior, so he was really pushing to make this night magical for the girl. Seriously, it was quite the fortunate stroke of luck that things seemed quiet enough for Redfield and Valentine alike to get some downtime. As for prom, it wasn't as if she blamed anyone in particular for what happened last year with her friends Zedd and Bex - if anything, the only fault to be found was the crushing loneliness that overwhelmed like an ocean and a pathetically desperate bid at forgetting it all, even if only for a moment - because the bird had enough wit to see the way things were in the real world, so it would be great to even have this much. _This much_, it sounded as if the greedy bandit with wax wings and too many stolen treasure at her back was ungrateful for all she had been given in Chris, although if the young woman was to be honest to the deepest part of herself, it wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world if the lovers could spend some extra time together. Again for the record, any time they had had was a wonderful gift from above that would be paid by those closest to them at a time that was not yet determined, yet ever since they had said the trio of magic words (even if it had only been a month ago now), the time apart felt that much harder to endure, the times they heard from each other getting increasingly more distant as he went off across the globe to save the world. What he was doing for people was the best sort of work, but...

Neither wanted to think of it in such dark and final terms as the grim fate of man, but if the worst should happen it would be comforting to know that at least one of them could go on living with 'that one winter night', and since big trouble was brewing in the world now that bio-weapons were spilling forth into the world from black market trade, it sadly seemed that much more likely that time would be that much more precious now. Frightening to imagine for either man or woman, younger or older, they both understood how real the risk of demise on the field was, but even as unsavory as that thought was, it was nothing compared to the prospect of how they were going to tackle this challenge. Ok, so maybe there was nothing worse than the idea that they could be parted forever in this world, so the teen took it on her own shoulders to focus on more of the trivial things in life that would keep her busy, body in some form of motion and brain too occupied to linger on worst-case scenarios. Why mourn over a fate that has yet to pass when the spirit can concentrate how badly she's butcher the Charleston? Ready or not with their plans, it was already time to buy the overpriced tickets to the little student get together calling itself a school function, so no matter how much of a laugh the adult supervision was (and it was bound to be a pathetically thin showing of a handful that at least cared enough to pretend to be interested), there were no allusions that even though the actors on tv and in the movies could get away with being like thirty in high school, that didn't mean that the pilot could get away with it. Considering that it wouldn't look very good to be the athlete's date to the dance, there was a snowball's chance in hell that the soldier could actually take her himself. For the restless, heartsick avian, there would have been little better than getting to sway in her lover's arms all night long in front of the world, rubbing it in to all those snobs that she had the ultimate prize, but the jock realized on her own that it wasn't possible, so instead they'd have to settle on some form of a compromise. But alas, therein laid the problem - how would they spend the night together when the teen ought to have been at the dance with her friends? Hidden as the answer was, they were even unclear about how the retrieval would go at this point, and the clock was ticking down...

And speaking of the concept of man that only continued to ebb away in a maddeningly slow form of torture, the teen's patience was waning away to a translucent powder finer than dust as her form was poked and prodded by bony, pinching fingers as she allowed herself to be stuffed into a rainbow of sleek silk mermaids and poofy monochromatic chiffons shaped more for cartoon princesses than the bodies of actual women, that hell endured for the sake of her mother and siblings alike. Red-nosed and miserable from the flu she had picked up from her little sisters a few days ago (thankfully the symptoms were starting to break, so by the dance all should be well, although the bitter irony was that if it weren't for dance, she'd have more time to rest up and recover faster), the ailing athlete stifled a sniffle as she made an attempt at appeasing her adopted kin, "What about this one?". Spinning awkwardly in one of the three pairs of high heels that Polly had brought for test simulations of 'the perfect look', the teen gazed sideways at herself in the latest pick, seeing something that forcibly reminded the fowl of a banana that had been smashed into the floor and coated with heavy chunks of glitter. Minus the disco-ball sparkle and it might not have been a terrible dress with the two complimentary tones of yellow, and the numerous asymmetrical strands were amusing enough to fuss with her hands learned for themselves, but this kind of thing just wasn't for her, sick or not. Playing the Barbie doll just wasn't her cup of tea to begin with, no matter how pretty or plain or colorful or drab the duds, so by the second or third samite sack that had been tried on, they all might have well have been the same scraps of fabric in different colors, but she knew that Polly in particular was a budding fashionista, so she kept going to make her happy, "Is it a good look, is fruit in this season Pol?" With any ounce of luck no one saw beyond the abundant disdain for this kind of hobby, and they would be none the wiser of how she felt as if she owed them so much more for what she was doing to her family by lying and carrying on a secret relationship, that this was the least the girl could do to make amends for hurting sweet old Barry, for betraying everything they had given her. As much as it tore her apart from the inside to continue to share their love and hospitality, home, hearth, and bread, Robin truly loved Chris will all her heart, and nothing she ever did would be enough to make up for it. She cursed her heart for being so divided. "Ira, mom?"

Frowning at the mellow curve of butter and honey awaiting their turns to join in a giant hot tub-like vat of ice-cream, the bird's littlest sister thought for a moment that she was looking at the humble makings of a frozen sundae, only instead of yummy chocolate sauce it was topped with an unruly knot of tar, and there would be no cherry on top - Robbie wasn't overly fond of cherries (a trait they had in common). If she hadn't felt so bad about her part in passing on the flu that was lagging over its welcome, the child might have let slip how the older female was looking rather thin from all the yakking she was doing, the horrible boyish muscle looking worse than ever as it popped out even more from the sudden gauntness of her sister. Robbie had been sick like this before, so the single-digit had puzzle over why now it was so much more intense - the only thing that came back to her was stress. So instead of point all that out - surely Robb must have seen that for herself? - the girl sent her sister back into the dressing room by wordlessly shoving a handsome jade sheath in her arms, lines of bead work brushing fumbling fingertips as the scarf-like material slid precariously on a satin hanger. Moira (who was only a little bit better than Robb at dressing with style) was more preoccupied by her little chunky plastic game device or fussing with a scrap of tissue than offering help, her opinion still firmly on what was probably like the sixtieth gown they tried in the first store they had visited that day: Robin's favorite as well, the gown was a dark plum number with scant shimmer and a long slit up one side, a narrow sash of obsidian that ended with a small ruby tear drop hanging lank just below the waist. One look at the price tag had made their mother knit her brows and grimace, but anyways it was no secret that it would give their father a heart attack if he were to see her in it, so the teen reluctantly had put it back on the hanger, wishing that Moira would stop bringing it up at odd intervals. It was a shame too, because Robb was dynamite in that thing! Oddly enough, Kathy really hadn't said much of anything about most of the dresses, not even one of the worst ones that looked like every shade of floral thrown-up all over some kind of print that wished it was an animal at one point in its life. Urgh, that hideous thing was sure to give her nightmares for at least the remainder of the week! Vaguely Polly wondered if this was what remembering Raccoon City was like for Robin, which led to musing if flashes of the city were the true culprit behind all of those late nights the teen had been lingering around her room lately as she tried to catch up on sleep that just wasn't coming - if so, she pitied the older girl.

Answering her sister before the canvas curtains closed once more around their cluttered station, maybe a million different raiments littering the innermost rack as they were transported back and forth, Polly didn't pull any punches in her professional-grade critique, "That one makes you look like a hot-air balloon that collided with the sun and stole all its color, and then it got torn up in some ratty tree on the way down. Maybe if you had a slender, more feminine form it would look better on you, more innocent." _Innocence_, Robin barely contained her snort, _what was that_? "If it's this hard trying to find a good dress for a dance, I shudder to imagine you looking for a wedding dress." A wedding dress? Robin never really imagined herself as a bride in any great detail, but she wanted to be Chris' forever, and if the soldier were to ask for her hand in marriage, and maybe after a long engagement... Who knew? "This green one should flatter your shape better, although I'm not completely sure about how the color will look with your skin tone." Not knowing at all how to sell her sibling on this find - or any other for that matter - the anklebiter waved the teenybopper on to the dressing room to change, basically taking over the job for the saleswoman, only without any hope of having even a small part of the commission, "Since it's the winter formal, I still think you should go with something blue or gray to go with the season and theme of the night. Anything silver will set off your eyes really prettily, or even white could look good with the right hair and accessories. Have you even decided yet if you want to wear it up or down yet?" Not waiting for an answer, Polly powered through like a bulldozer that obviously knew better than everyone else, "Of course you're going to wear it down, because its easier and you're just a boring old hair-slut, keeping it simple and sweaty all the time. It's no wonder you don't have a boyfriend, with a rats nest like yours. But's it's probably for the best though, since one ear is slightly higher up than the other." Gasping incredulously a few feet from the changing room, Robin almost dropped the dress in her arms as she stared at her family for support; Moira merely shrugged sideways, agreeing with her blood sister; Kathy wanted to comfort her eldest and tell her that it wasn't so noticeable if one didn't really pay attention, but her first instinct was to have a word with her daughter about using that kind of language, especially in public. Sensing what was coming her way from Hurricane Mommy, Polly quickly employed the cloak of youth and feigned innocent ignorance, "What mommy, did I say something bad? Was it hair-slut? Should I say follicle floozy instead?" The cute card wouldn't work forever, but while it was at her disposal, that girl was really milking it for all it was worth - Robin was impressed. A touch concerned, but mostly just really in awe by that mastery of manipulation, where ever it came from.

On the brink of reprimanding the last born for what she had said in polite company (although it was unmistakable that they had all heard worse in their day, and even Moira had been caught saying things that would have made Grandma Burton blush), mouth even taking in her last breath before a long-winded speech came on, Kathy was stopped mid-sentence by the shrill chirping ring of the mobile phone taking up easily a third of her purse. A technology that was rapidly becoming more and more popular and commonplace, enough people now had phones of their own ready at hand, but Barry was so concerned for his family's safety, their number was known to few, and the phone itself only came out for important matters. Not even Robin had a phone of her own - Barry and Kathy both agreed from the beginning that while they wanted to keep tabs on their girls, if they wanted a cellular of their own, they could pay for it themselves (which was also a great way to monitor when they were old enough without starting a senseless argument). Snapping her mouth closed before it caught a fly, Mrs. Burton gave her smallest a 'this isn't over yet, missy' glance before reaching for the cordless, answering sweetly in a voice that wouldn't suggest any prior snafus, "Yes, dear?" Whatever her husband said to her made the woman's face falter for a moment, but it was gone in such a flash that it might have only been the imagination, or else it could have just been a sudden urge to see the restrooms at the back of the store, "Is that right... No, no, I believe it. Here, you can talk to her yourself. Robin," a little on the queasy side herself still (somehow the only one well in the house had been Barry), Kathy stuck her head through the curtain where her daughter was changing and thrust the phone at the teen so she could visit the nearest bathroom, again, "Robbie, it's your father, he wants to talk to you about something." Kathy was the kind of mother that ordinarily would have handed over the phone and lingered on a bit longer than she was wanted, so her hasty retreat told the bird that she wasn't feeling up to par either, leaving her with the thought that if they didn't pick out a dress soon, the family would soon be redecorating more dresses than their wallets could afford, "Be a dear and watch your sisters for me." It wasn't a request, but the jock understood where it had came from, since this past week her new best friend had been whatever toilet was nearest. "I'll be back."

Gulping as she took the receiver from her mother, fears transparent beneath the sheen her temperature was coating her in, the avian's first thought was of Chris and their relationship being discovered, but Robin was fairly certain that this was the kind of thing her father would wait to yell at her for face-to-face, no warning of the situation at all. That was what ration kept running through the athlete's mind to soothe away her trepidations, the words attempting to offer comfort coming out in her brave prince's voice, and yet even still she could only imagine the ending of this scenario, the tears that would flow, the blood that would gush, the hearts that would break, although as always the jock did her utmost to keep it out of her voice. "Hello? What is it dad?" More of often than not, Barry would always be 'daddy' to the girl except for in dire circumstances, and most would probably agree that being flustered and ill would count as such, so that was all the excuse needed to get away with it, "Mom didn't tell me anything when she handed the phone over - is everything alright? No one's been hurt, have they? Billy, Rebecca, Jill, Carlos..." She couldn't even bring herself to think of saying his name, "There wasn't an accident, was there? Strange men," Robin knew as well as any why the family had taken up a residence in Canada, but there was also the matter of whomever had sent her that letter in the pamphlet, so maybe it had something to with that, "the warning signs of another nightmare?" No one living and in their right mind would ever dream of wanting to endure a repeat of Raccoon City, let alone one of the two youngest survivors, but at the same time there was a part of her that lived in a constant anticipation for such a time, "It's not that, right daddy, it's not another Raccoon City, is it? Do I need to get mom and the girls someplace in specific for an extraction, or is it too late for that already?" Sadly it was like that every time that her father called her, all worries for the wellbeing of her close friends and family (even Claire, though she rarely ever actually said her name in the lists when inquiring), all the worst times of her old life coming back to haunt her anew.

"No Robbie, it's nothing like that," Barry kept his tone carefully measured as he addressed his oldest daughter, leading her to believe that it was something else just as serious, that maybe at long last it had reached his attention that she was with their closest friend, in love and intimate, "everyone is fine so far as I know - heck, they're probably all out there giving the world hell as we speak. Actually, I just heard from Billy, and he wanted me to remind you to call Rebecca, because she has something she wanted to talk to about. No, this is about something else..." Strangely enough, he was nonplussed by the fact that a registered medical expert wanted to talk privately, and even more curiously, it sounded as if he were guilty of something, but that was just preposterous! Wasn't it? "You know that we've already done all our Christmas shopping, but I'm at the jewelry store right now, and I wanted to get something nice for your mother. Not for any real reason other than that we love her." Uh, huh. Yeah, sure, of course he was out shopping on his own. Her father's tone betrayed him even before he could get the words out, but she didn't begrudge him for trying to do something nice for her for the upcoming dance, "You're a female, and you know what she likes, so if there's anything you can think of that she'd want, can you tell me now what it is?" Thinking to herself that it was sweet of him to do this for her, it would have been best of she was there with him to pick whatever it was he was looking at out, although since she had no clue what she would be wearing to the formal yet, the entire thing was a mute point, and he seemed to know that, "In fact, why don't I come pick you up in say, ten, twenty minutes? That should give you enough time to try on one last dress with your sisters so you can pick one out. Then you can help me, and we'll pretty much be done with this whole nightmare." It was sweet the lengths his girls were going to for each other, but his little song bird had done enough for now, "I know that you should be home resting, but the dance is in only a few more days, so you'll probably want to spend the rest of that downtime planning how you'll spend the night with your peers, making memories..." His voice cracked as he was reminded yet again of how much his little girl was growing up, "Tell your mother that she can take the girls home early, and if you're up to it later, we can get some ice cream, just the two of us - on the condition that you don't tell your sisters." They - and by 'they' he meant Polly, since Moira was more like her older sister and didn't care two winks for picking out dresses - were probably already jealous enough of everything going on in Robin's life right now, so it wouldn't do to have them fighting over something else as mundane as spending quality time with dad.

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><p>Author's Notes: Bleh, this chapter feels like such a horrible mess! And seriously, what the hell was it about visible adults portraying teens in the nineties and 2000's? Sure, I still love the teen comedies made in those days the same as always, but I'm glad that they're doing a better job of lessening that obvious age discrepancy. Oh, and before I forget! If you can't tell (and if I was a reader not not the author, honestly I'm not sure I'd pick up on right away, but I'm just talented like that, lol) this is another flash-forward. It's not as drastic as the last one though, since it was about three months (I never said officially, but I picture the previous fall chapters to take place in November, although it looks more like October) and this one is only like one month or so. Whenever she was visiting with Chris, be it November or even September, this time skip most certainly is in winter, in the month of December. That's important to know as the story reaches its end. Yep, Robin's getting fashion advice from a nine-year old that think's she a hair-slut. My tired brain -_- Anyways, who the hell knows what Polly is like at this point?<p>

Thank you, ever so much** hooray4natasha**! You truly do have my gratitude!

Music: "The Call" by The Backstreet Boys. There were a few different ways I thought about going musically with this one, such as just following the trend of the playlist and finding the best follow-up to Nazareth (which I came _this_ close to doing), but in the end my gut wouldn't let me, so I followed my first instinct and went with a song that focuses a tad more on the relationship of the Burton family. The problem there was that I couldn't pick between three different songs, but after thinking about it, I figured out exactly what they will be, and even the order in which to expect them. This one was largely for the title, but there were other reasons as well.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	28. Right Through Me

One more dress? In twenty minutes? Wow, even after living in a house full of them for so many years now, Barry still didn't understand how girl's worked, did he? Well thankfully for her father's sake Robin had some slight knowledge on that subject, so instead of zipping the unyielding meatsack into another ill-fitting tube and going through all the unnecessary hassle so she could go parading around for another failure of a critique (some part of the bird wondered if all these changes were just to make her suffer for getting all this attention as of late), the jock cast aside the sage husk and returned to her own second skin of silvery-gray jeans and a cranberry t-shirt. Returning the phone back to it's proper place in her mom's purse while the fully grown woman was still making nice with the porcelain throne, the teen also handed the dress back to the crotchety saleswoman (what did that blonde tart have to gripe about? It was Polly that had done all the work she was going to get paid for anyways), catching her siblings'd face with a grimace - Pol probably was going to feel cheated by this, but their father's word was their law. And oh what a lawbreaker she was! Maybe there wasn't technically any rule in place specifically barring what the fledging adult had done and continued to do (with rueful relish), but there shouldn't have to be an axiom in place that expressly forbade something that commonsense put into the universe. Robin was more than old enough now to know what was right from what was wrong, but even though it wasn't strictly honorable for the young woman to betray her family like thus, carrying on with her best friend and the best part of herself, living a life of lies, was it truly so fallacious to follow her heart? Barry, Kathy, Moira, and Polly had all come to be her real family from damn near the very beginning, ever since they had taken her on, but Chris... How could she possibly hope to chose between two equal parts of her heart? How could anyone do it and be completely at peace with their final decision? And even worse than that was the news that Rebecca wanted to have a word with the teen - it might have been nothing in fairness, and since the message had been passed on through Billy it either wasn't of importance or was a coded emergency, so there was no telling until she could talk with the good doctor herself. The jock cursed herself for being such a big baby that she went to to the medic for medicine to help beat this lingering flu (and also another batch of 'lady pills' that weren't strictly what most would call 'legal', but the other survivor wanted to be sure that the couple was keeping safe and protected, so the slightly more advanced female didn't feel too badly for lending a helping hand). With luck, it would just be that she couldn't make their appointed meeting time and they'd have to reschedule a new meeting place for the delivery.

While Robin was busy worrying over her own issues, whatever they might have been at this point (sharing a wall with the athlete as well as a bathroom, the double digits could hazard a guess that it had something to do with her secret boyfriend), Moira finally glanced up long enough from her game to realize that this horrid excursion was almost at its end, thankfully. Recovering from her own symptoms well enough, Ira didn't care so much for getting dragged around to three different stores for something as stupid as a dress that her sister would wear maybe twice (trying it on counted as wearing it, right?), but it was a built-in excuse for getting out of her homework and not having to do chores around the house for that much longer, plus it gave her extra time to beat her game, so she wasn't about to complain in front of their mom. Wherever she had gotten off to... "Are we done here, can we go home now?" Making use of mother's absence from the scene, the little one continued in a cross tone of voice as she pinned equal blame on her younger sibling as well, "Or is the princess of the universe here going to make us endure the previously unknown tenth circle of hell? Seriously Robbie, for the life of me I don't know why you're going out of your way to impress some loser - you know that Chris is going to find some lame ass excuse just to show up to see you off..." About to say something along the lines of how it was going to be a disaster either way, it dawned on Moira that Robin was using this whole thing as a ploy to make Chris jealous, so that he'd beat up that little boy toy of hers and take his place. Poor sap, whoever it was who was only there to fill in the empty spaces as some kind of surrogate for the one the teen really wanted. "You dirty birdy! You're messing around with some guy, sneaking him in late when you know mom and dad won't catch on, letting him do God knows what so when he gets the holy hell beat out of him by Chris, it'll hurt less! Really, isn't bad enough that you're going around flaunting your tits when he's around? I swear the last time he was over for dinner he practically jizzed in his pants when you helped dad serve the main course in that one shirt that plunged almost to your navel," Polly nodded in agreement, recalling how afterwards their father had made her clean out her dresser of anything he deemed inappropriate, telling her that she'd get it all back once she came of age, "one of these days the guy is going to break - it's just a matter of if it'll be a nut or his will." Still very much aboard the idea of Chris and her sister as an item for the endgame of gaining Claire as a legitimate part of the family, Moira wasn't sure this method was going to work in the long term, "It would be better if you would take him aside and do it already. I can see you two practically fucking every time you look at each other, and honestly Rob, you're better than playing these sick little mind games, and I know that you really do love him. I think he loves you too, so you both should just have sex already so you can move on and get married already."

Married, there was that word again. Sure, she could feel it with every last fiber of her being that they were meant to be one for the rest of forever, but that was such a big step, and even if you counted since the day they first became intimately acquainted with the other, it didn't feel as if they's been a couple for nearly long enough; although perhaps if they were free to go public with their unwedded union, she might feel more comfortable hearing the word. But more importantly, how could someone so brilliantly close to the truth be so blind? Obviously Ira was on to her love affair with the soldier (poor kid, Robin had tried to keep it down for her sake, but the girl had undoubtedly caught on to her overly enthusiastic prayers and sudden devotion to a higher power), and while it was probably for the best that she had no clue that it was in fact Chris under the sheets and behind the revival of faith, it still stung that the almost preteen would even think for a moment that the jock was unfaithful and would hurt someone in that way. "Ira, Pol, don't you two know the kind of person I am? I'm honestly hurt that you think I'd do something like that to someone, and you should know that I would never dream of lying to Chris." Not again. "Do you really think so little of me? I know I haven't always been the best of role models for you guys," how could anyone be, stacked against the likes of Claire Redfield and Jill Valentine? "I'm trying, truly. Those movies mom makes you guys watch have some merit, but they don't tell you how to be a great sibling, let alone a good one. I know, I've watched them all trying to figure it out. You have to remember that I was a younger sister more than I was a bigger one, and now that I'm in a relationship and you guys are so impressionable..." Catching on a tad too late that she had just slipped up in her candor, Robin swore, stretching one little word on for easily three syllables, "Fuuuuuucckk..." Just like that, the bird had given away everything she had tried so hard to keep locked away all these long months, every untruth and act of deception counting for next to nothing now that it slid so smoothly from her own traitorous tongue. Well, the athlete grudgingly supposed that now was as good a time as any to trust in their bond and fill someone in on the secret, "Listen, this is urgent - you absolutely positively can not - and I mean ever never ever - tell anyone what I'm about to tell you two, promise?" Shifting her silver orbs from left to right and back again as she checked for signs that they were being eavesdropped on, or worse, their mom was coming back from her own party of one, the avian frowned down at the two girls, wondering if it was really a good thing to let them in on the secret (and if she did fill them in, how much should she divulge?). Knowing from first-hand experience that it was best to be spoken to as an equal, the teen crouched down to about their eye level, "Alright, I'm trusting you both. Ira's right, I have been keeping something from mom and dad. Someone, really, but I want you to understand that it's only to protect-" Robin had to wonder before the words escaped her lips, protect whom? Chris? Her father? Herself? Hmm, it felt a bit like everyone at this juncture, "-those that I love. After everything that happened to me in Raccoon City, after all the death and madness, and horror, I lost everything, but dad - and mom - helped me to find it again. You know that I love each and every one of you as if we were blood, and I don't want to hurt anyone, but-"

"Oh. My. God!" Moira caught on a millisecond faster than Polly had, the light in her trusting hazel eyes going from a soft, melted butterscotch so full of affectionate admiration to hard toffee left on an old woman's coffee table for too long, brimming over the edge with harsh accusation, "You haven't been playing with some poor sap for your own ends! You've been couping up with Chris! How long? Since school this year, when Claire came by the house with that duffel bag for you? Or was it longer than that?" Seeing that at the time, Ira had simply thought that the bag exchanging hands was something private between them so that they bandage the splintering fractures in their relationship for the sake of their friends and family, but apparently she had been throughly deceived and it was only something that her dear sweet liar had forgotten at Chris' place when they were... Urgh. So much more suddenly made sense to the girl, including the sporadic late-night confessionals. _Thanks alot Robin, now I'm just as traumatized as you are,_ Moira thought irritably to herself, _Now the only innocent one left among us is Pol, and being that little piece of pep she was, it was only a matter of time before she was sullied as well_. "Bravo, _sis_," the mini brunette really peppered in the aggression so her point wasn't missed by anyone, "good sistering. As if we aren't fucked enough with our dad, you just had to go and add to it." As irked as she was in the heat of the moment, Ira ultimately couldn't stay mad at her sister, especially when her reasons were so transparent, "Tsk, you really do love that knucklehead, don't you? Out of the three of us, its obvious that you would have the least reason to lie to our old man, so it has to be love. Well, I can't say I'm mad - well I am super pissed-off about this, but I'll get over it for you. Eventually." Seriously, victory was close at hand, but finding out in this manner was more than a tinsy bit disturbing. "I can't imagine that it was easy for you, having to hide it from everyone, and having to endure all that time alone while he's off globetrotting with Jill." She narrowed her eyes at the lines of equally bored mannequins posed in the front window as if just realizing where they were at, "That's why you've been so cool lately, giving me your lunch today and letting Pol run the world for a day! It's been eating at you, hasn't it? Keeping this from us? Well," she softened once more, "I can't speak for princess here, but I can tell you that I get it, and that we're cool. I promise that your secret is safe with me," Moira added a sassy smile, half giving Robin a hard time and half honestly asking, "but please, for the love of God, when you want to turn into the energizer bunny with your boyfriend, just do it someplace else where I'm not around." Polly, who didn't seem to have anymore to add to that, simply ran over to her sister and squeezed her tight around the middle, nodding against her chest.

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><p>Author's Notes: Wow, almost 500 viewers now! That was fast since I last checked! And I'm so super grateful to you all! Not the chapter I envisioned, but I like it, short as it is. Hopefully I'm not alone?<p>

For the mundane moments in life,** hooray4natasha**.

Music: "Right Thru Me" by Nicki Minaj. I dislike bad grammar (though I wouldn't call myself a grammar Nazi by any means), but I love this song, and I think it fits, because even though they might be blind to some things, they still love each other and can see the person inside! Maybe on second thought the third song I lined up might not fit after all, then again it might still, it all just depends on how this chapter works out and what happens in the next one.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	29. Let Her Go

She never meant to do it, not really, but when the opportunity had presented itself, there was just no way around snatching that cute little butt! Finally passing for fine, the dignified matron was able at long last to part from the restroom long enough to escort the girls home (not so shockingly empty-handed of a dress, pockets were brimming over from candy wrappers, and in Robin's case a cute little shaw that might warrant finding some excuse or other to raid her closet). Finding the call to be a convenience in more ways than she could count, Kathy stood waiting at the door for a word with her spouse before he took the teen off her hands (as well as offer a friendly pat on the behind when she thought none of the kids were looking), which freed her to treat the girls for putting up with all this hassle that focused so intently on just the one of them, as well as pick up a little something they had left behind at another store. Undecided about which would break his mind the worst between the receipt or seeing his baby girl in something with so much va-voom, Kathy could see even through her illness that the girl had lit up in that dress, that her heart wanted it more than any other they could show to her in five lifetimes. Almost like how she appeared to feel about Chris... Far from stupid, mama bear could see that her baby bird felt something for the soldier that she was likely never going to feel for anyone else (hence a large reason behind her silence on the subject), but it still left a bitter taste in her mouth to see how the situation was being handled. When the time came she would do what she could for them, she knew that even then, but somehow the mother of two-thirds knew in her heart that it might not be enough... It wasn't a good way to deal with the knowledge of where that newfound sway in her step came from, but it was the best way Kathy could manage while rooting for both sides of an opposing force - take no sides, feign innocence, and when it came down to it, play Switzerland. However much ignorance could be claimed when she was forking over half a fortune for a dress that would end up removed by a very specific pair of hands.

Keeping vigilance from a strategic spot just by the front portal of glass so she could also feel the cool winter air that came inside whenever the door was opened, it was the teen herself that spied him pulling up outside the warmth of the heated store, the two girls clinging to her side pointing and waving when they caught sight of the familiar bearded face, "Dad's here!" Moira and Polly might have been fond of giving their old man a hard time even now (boy were their teen years going to be a barrel of fun for their folks), but Robin was much more open about the good relationship she thought she had with her father, "Ira, Pol, wait here with mom, alright?" Much of a traitor as she was, the athlete still adored her surrogate father-bear hybrid, so she bolted out of the door before they either could offer a reply (which knowing them would have been more on the scathing side anyways), throwing her arms around his neck the instant he was out of the car, "Daddy!" While the greeting was enthusiastic, the rest was somber as the flu inside, "How was the drive up here? Did you..." Robin had been about to ask if there was any word from Chris yet, partially out of habit and somewhat just because she was hoping that he'd visit the house before the dance for a brainstorming session (and maybe a bit of necking as well, if there was time), but every time she spoke of her lover in front of her father, it only tied her intestines that much tighter in a knot that could make even the most intricate of pretzels scowl and pout in their envy, "did you happen to hear from Billy or Rebecca again, to ask about the message she left?" Sure, the teen was apprehensive about whatever it was the medic wanted to convey (there'd been enough blood work done in the past to know that her veins were clean, and the dancer trusted Chris, so it wasn't like it was AIDS or anything like that, and she couldn't possibly be pregnant due to their safety net, so it was either cancer or nothing), but compared to everything else that was going on, somehow that felt an insignificant matter at the moment. Although, with the way she was feeling - true there were spurts of time when she felt more energized and almost well again - the bird wasn't quite debunking the big 'C' from the list of possibilities. Blugh.

Ecstatic to be greeted in such a fashion by at least one of his girls, let alone in public where people could actually see, he grinned and hugged the teen in return before they made their way back to the store for the rest of the family, "Robbie, have you gone senile in your old age? You saw me just this morning! I told you on the phone already that everything's alright so far as I know, even the drive didn't kill me. I'm made of tougher stuff, ya know kiddo." Beaming with joy at even this tiniest moment, Barry shook his head, "No, I didn't hear from back from Billy or Rebecca after he left the message - it's probably nothing important, or else they would have made a bigger deal about it." She hoped that her father was right about that. "You shouldn't worry about that so much - you have to think about this dance, and after that college and the rest of your life. You've done well so far in that department, but you're far from finished: after college comes getting yourself a career, and then a house, a car, a husband, and eventually before you're too old to appreciate it, a family of your own. Having a baby of your own is probably the most rewarding thing you can ever do in life, but once you make that final commitment to a little life, there's no going back on it, and worse, if your kid is what they call 'normal', they won't show you a lick of gratitude until they're ready to start their own brood, and even then there's no guarantee that you'll hear a word of thanks. Not that any of this is my blessing for you to go and grow-up on me now, because you're still so young and have too much to do before any of that comes into the picture. If I had it my way, none of you girls would ever grow up, and I could keep you three all to myself."

Yes, that undoubtedly would make her father happier than anything else in the world ever could, but it was inevitable that the three of them would grow, would fall in love and break-up with heartache, and as much as she wanted to be the ideal daughter and give her father as much as was in her limited scope of power, she couldn't ignore the first lesson, which was to follow her heart, and her heart laid well outside of what her old man would deem appropriate. Yet instead of burst his bubble and say all of that, the teen simply kept her mouth shut tight and reentered the store to a very dirty look from that blonde tart who wasn't going to paid nearly as much as she wanted. Hussy. Off to the side, Moira and Polly exchanged eye rolls at their sister's behavior - falling in love with her best friend behind their parents' backs and lying about it was one thing (even having to listen to the fling wasn't half as bad as watching the father and daughter hug it out), but they would never understand how she could have the kind of relationship with their father that she did. If Robin had been born to them Kathy might have questioned how any teenager could get along so well with their parents, but as it was the mother wolf knew that her cub was a strange one indeed, and all else aside, if nothing else it was all a matter of circumstance that allowed the bond to live and work. In fact she found it rather touching that they could have such a great relationship, and she wished for his sake that the other two girls would take a hint and go easier on their father, since he loved them all and only had their best interests at heart.

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><p>Author's Notes: Cancer and HIV are no joking matter! But yes, I do admit that this short little chapter really is more of a filler for whats to come. In fact, at one time I thought about combing them both, but ultimately I decided not to, because I was stuck on how to transition between the two segments without doing a major rewrite, so instead I just figured I'd give you all another little mini chapter.<p>

**hooray4natasha**, thank you so very much for continuing to review my story! I really can't find the words to thank you enough!

Music: "Let Her Go" by Passenger. Not the song I originally intended - see, told you that that might happen - but this one works better anyways.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	30. Blue

Burned out after trying on what felt like every dress in the town and confessing something so preciously grave to her sisters, the good cells fighting for recovery were so frustrated with their host that they had all but given up by the time the shopping was done, the flu eating at the remaining strength in her body throwing an early celebratory festival as it churned over the strawberry ice-cream and sent it back up in a violent wave that shook the entire foundation. In terms of her fleeting inner power, it was all the teen could do to keep vertical as they sat in the warm rays of a dying day, the dwindling berries and muted flames playing nicely with the maroon jacket he had donned over an ecru turtleneck (a gift from his wife). Faintly spilling out of the aged PA system hooked up at the back - were she better, the gear head might have offered to have a look at it as to extend the life of the equipment and improve the overall sound quality - some old-timey ditty bleated out in the background, part carnival music and part something else that neither could exactly pin-point (they had had quite the fun of it before today, trying to guess without actually asking one of the senior employees for the correct answer). The duo had had a lot of good times in the ice-cream shop, both with and without mom and the girls; sometimes bags of groceries would share their table, and other times it would be little more than idle gossip, but always it would be smiles and laughter; this time was different, and the loudest thing at the table was the mystic topaz pendant that had been fashioned to fit inside an intricate cage of silver scroll-work, the box obscuring even that from sight. Truly it was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen, at least so far as jewelry went, so the bird had thanked him most profusely for this gift, but as they had sat down to their favorite cones and paper dishes (the bear preferred rocky road, with extra chocolate drizzled on top), all chattered seemed to die within that first bite.

Miserably stirring around the lumpy brown remains of a lightly toasted roll before it happened, honestly the girl ought to have known better than to add the unglazed cinnamon bun when the smell of it adversely effected her nose, but that was her favorite way to enjoy the frozen treat, and after the long-ass day she'd had, the teen would be damned if she couldn't enjoy herself a delicious snack! Apparently her soul was quite screwed when her time finally came however, as the avian was not only torn up between what she was doing to her dear father, and now this, but there was also everything that had come before, in Raccoon City when she was still just an innocent child... But really, how innocent had she been, even back then? Her mother and that blonde bastard had both seen to it that all traces of innocence had been stolen away long before she could come to understand and be grateful for what she had had... How many times had she wished that she could have given Chris each part of her body and soul, and only him. Hmm, it would have meant so much to able to grant her lover what she felt he rightfully deserved, but dreams and wishes can only get one so far in life, and it was impossible to go back and save herself from being traded as some pawn that was more of an after-thought for that diabolical pair. All Robin could do now was try to move on and live in the moment - even this one - no matter how embarrassing it was to hurl chunks across a cozy little booth at her father, the pair sandwiched against one corner of the quaint little shop and opposite the register, a couple about Chris' age fighting shock and reflexes as they paid for a waffle cone to split, the family of three a few seats away unable to shush the disgust. Thank the stars above that her old man was so understanding and could easily forgive a trifle such as this...

"Baby," Barry ignored the regurgitated pink muck and discernible hunks of half-chewed bun that coated a majority of his front now (after the mansion incident and raising two little ones from birth, it took more than some vomit to get him down), reaching a fatherly hand out for his little girl, more concerned about her health than anything else, "Robbie, are you alright? Should I take you home, or to the doctor?" Or maybe he could call the medical expert (not necessarily Rebecca, as she wasn't exactly close enough to make great time) to them, since his little Robbie was obviously in dire need of bed rest; growing gaunt and emaciated-looking from all the hurling she'd been doing this past while now, he had half a mind to make her stay home until she was well again, dance be damned. The wellbeing of his children meant more to him any day of the week, "Your mom and the girls should be back home by now. Your mother would know what to do." Kathy always seemed to know exactly what was the right course of action, bless that beautiful woman! "No, I've let this flu leech off my family too long, as if it were some kind of big leech. On my family. But no more! We're going to get you taken care of, and then you're going to stay in your room, snug in your bed until you can kick this and get better. You're a fighter and you're a Burton besides, so some silly little illness isn't going to get you down!" The vote of confidence in her abilities was nice, not to mention the acknowledgement of her as one of his own, and staying in bed until she was cured might be up for some debate later (much later), but for now the unwell maiden was just wanting to be in a place where she didn't want to die, her insides writhing as if they were suddenly alive and on fire, creatures burning to be free from their dark confines. Maybe some soup would be nice too - a little chicken, perhaps, or even tomato would be nice - but the bird could ask for that once they were back home; whatever he made up his mind to do for her, she was no longer listening to him going on about whatever it was he was going on about, "...I think first I'll have your mom put you in a nice bath, and then you can warm up some and just sleep the day off. Your homework can wait until you have enough color in your face for me to believe that you can hold your pencil straight." The words every child wished to hear when well and dandy, and the self-same words that meant nothing when they had fallen sick.

Leaving an extra large tip out of guilt for leaving the staff to have to deal with the mess while he saw to his little girl - the nondescript older waitress that would be stuck mopping the puddle of sick scowling at the pair as the left, despite the sizable recompense she had been granted - Barry wrapped an arm around the athlete's waist as he helped support the bird from their booth to the backseat of his car so she could curl up on the drive home. Driving as slow and steady as the law would allow (and slower in places where none were any wiser for it), papa bear kept shooting concerned glances over his shoulder as the lump of limbs in the back whimpered at the potholes and speed bumps they drove over as if they were daggers through her flesh, her mouth otherwise silent as she dozed off. They were almost home when it happened, maybe five miles from the twisting lane that saw little enough traffic to be considered private land (although who was arguably the rightful owner remained to be seen), all dust and whatever the seasons carried. In the same instant that the proud father had been checking on the cautionary orange status of his oldest, neck craned around to be sure that she was still holding up in one piece, the weapons specialist had run into something before the man even realized that they were in any danger. Metal kissing what seemed to be the flesh of a large dog (a gray hound or great dane, perhaps?), Barry's first reaction was not to size up the sum of the damage or even the exact cause - his primary and only concern was for the figure that had flown from the back seat as if in slow-motion, her body limp and listless after the impact of colliding with the front seats. Thankful that he had not been speeding recklessly, Barry's mouth twisted in horror as he saw the blood drizzling down one side of her pale chin...

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><p>Author's Notes: In truth, this chapter was actually supposed to be number 29, but the way I had it written out it felt too short, so I lengthened it only, ironically only to cut it back to where it started anyways. What you probably don't know either is that I came very VERY close to ending the story right here on this cliff-hanger, but that just won't do for what I have lined up for the future, so I reconsidered and stuck closer to my original game plan.<p>

**hooray4natasha**, gratitude, gratitude, gratitude!

Music: "Blue" by A Perfect Circle. Another pre-set lineup I cooked up a chapter ago - this one I picked more for the tone of the song and the ideology as opposed to strictly the lyrics.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	31. For Your Entertainment

Stygian, it seemed as if all trace of color and light had been hemorrhaged from the world by some pale leech that was so bloated it burst beneath the already murky depths of some obsidian pool in a cave of jet pitch, the mirror-like surface unwrinkled by even the slightest motion, any life on the underside of the sheet painted in sombre ink and squalid sable. Bleak and iniquitous, whatever might have lurked under the midnight layers of coal was long since expired - or so it seemed - the vacuous void filled only by the oppressive stench of an overheated engine, the only sound a distant shrill ringing that typically came from percussion grenades or gunfire. Surrounded by this lugubrious dusk, all there seemed to be in any direction was ebony, charcoal, or soot everywhere the eye could see, if it was even seeing in this strange world of nothingness. Listening for the sound of her own trembling heartbeat in this bereft nihility, praying mutely that even the faintest of thumping noises would echo greatly from unseen cavernous pits of whatever stone or cloud surrounded her being, the pet songbird could make out not one throb but two, although the second was so much weaker than the first, as if it were far away. That was right, she wasn't alone, not anymore. Whatever was holding her body up was so hiemal and irregular that the teen's first thought was of a cold hilltop in winter, yet the way it protruded and arched her form she might have been a giant, although she knew that that wasn't right, that she was around the normal height of girls her age, if not only slightly above it. In fact, she had been just the right size for her counterpart, not a millimeter less. Whatever it was that was supporting her weight, the athlete wasn't on it for long, because she felt herself being carried off in a pair of strong arms; the last thing she could remember was being helped into the car by her father so he could take her back home, his front covered in the contents of her stomach, but this person or thing that was moving her was walking differently, as if it one leg was made considerably shorter than the other. Instantly that ruled out her father and Chris as being the ones carrying her, but who else was there? Trying to puzzle it out as she was swept away from the smell of the overworked engine - and was that blood in the air, filling her mouth as well?! - the girl drifted off as another wave of blackness passed over her, coating her in a starless blanket for who knows how long...

A streak of gray paler than the reflection of the moon in her eyes - or maybe a blue-black as condensed as the murky midnight asphalt ribbon that was the road - the shape had darted out of nowhere from the wooded sentinels guarding either side eternally, and just as quickly, it returned to the destination it had unwittingly been chasing. A wild dog perhaps, or some kind of wolf more like, whatever the beast was it had left the world in a muffled whimper as the vehicle collided with it's ill-timed passing of the man-path, but it wouldn't be going alone, not if the creature of the woods could help it! The engine was damaged heavily on the unexpected impact, the gas pedal still pressing down insistently as the driver turned its head to gaze down at the cub that had fallen to the tawny carpet inside the hollow shell; the smell of blood was evident to the animal as the remainder of its life faded away into the great breasts of mother nature herself. Yes, the heavenly reek of it might have brought a hungry growl to the intestines of moments ago, but now that another meal of anything but decay was out of the question, the canine could care less about the dying mortal or the meaty one that would have lasted a good while if properly hid from any scavengers. It had been a decent life, the creature supposed, but too short - the man-boy that had saved him from the hunter's trap all those years ago had been good to him, yes, and continued to be kind, but if he had not brought his free pet along on this little mission of its pack-mate, then perhaps the mighty king of the forest could have had longer to enjoy the bounty of the world, could have found a mate even, passed on his legacy in many liters of strong pups, but now none of it matter... The wolf, or whatever it was in the dog family, probably should have grudged the human that had brought him along, and yet even with it's dying breath, it could not hate its human...

When next Robin opened her eyes, it was not to that velvet world of infinity but the Burton family living room, although there was something terribly wrong with the picture: Barry was seated opposite her on the couch, hands so tight behind his back that his shoulders seemed in danger of popping from their sockets, and there was a gag in his mouth that strongly resembled a white silk tie; Kathy was in a similar state and still unconscious from a nasty knock to the back of the dome, head lolling on her husband's shoulder and leaving a soiled wet spot as he trembled with blind furry; Moira and Polly were no where to be seen, which could have meant a billion and one different things. Panic overtook her mind in a single instant as memories of her childhood flashed violently to the surface, ghost hands scratching with pointed dead nails and trailing threateningly all over, threatening whispers of deceit and promises filling her head from the lips of corpses and shades, yet as much as that horrified her, the teen had to know where her sisters were, that they were all alive for the moment. Battling back demons in high heels and monsters with shining badges, the teen struggled to race to her parents, only she discovered that her own movements had been restrained by thick plastic cords that bound her ankles and her wrists alike, and when she tried to scream out for her sisters and their parents, she found that she too had been gagged. No, whatever fresh hell this was, this couldn't be real, it had to be a nightmare! Fighting against the modern chains, the athlete jarred her own shoulder as she hit it too hard against the wall she had been placed against, but that didn't matter when her family was in jeopardy once again! She wasn't just some frightened little child anymore, she could protect those she loved now, she had to, or else...

"Oh look," A flat, masculine voice that sounded more bored than anything else came into the room at that moment, kicking her side when the speaker saw that the jock was awake, "Sleeping Beauty's awake at last. He'll be happy to hear that." He? So this was more then the work of one person. "You know," Robin watched as the male figure in a long, slate-gray trench coat moved from her side to whisper mockingly in her father's ear, "I never really saw the appeal there myself, not even when all those layers had been stripped away so you could actually see that baby had some actual tits - the one perk of going to that lame-ass recital, I do admit." The voice wasn't familiar in the slightest, although in fairness the athlete associated with few enough that she bothered to listen actively to, and since the last dance recital she had performed in had a considerable number of guests, the teen couldn't come up with even a small list of suspects just yet. Turning back to her scornfully, the cheap Halloween mask swayed side to side, trenchy reading her mind, "Don't bother wasting your time trying to figure out who I am - we've never been introduced. My colleague, on the other hand, knows you quite well. He told me that once you woke up you'd probably want to know the whole boring basics, the whole 'who are you, what do you want' bullshit game, and he said that I could get creative with that much. If your not too busy cursing him after all this is over, you might want to thank him for having the foresight and the consideration to tell me to inform you that your little sisters will be fine. He's not a complete fucker, so we had to go to great lengths to hire a babysitter for the brats. Mom and Dad know this already, but since she's still out of it and Daddy here is unable to express himself, it's up to poor little me to pass on the message that they should be back from their little nature hike once we're done here. My man reckons that you probably have done all kinds of things with that boyfriend of yours while your family sleeps, so likely the one heard at least some of it, but just in case he doesn't want to be at fault for damaging them like that." At the mention of a boyfriend, Barry's malevolent glare broke and transitioned into suspicious questioning as he gazed at his daughter, and all she could do was blink in answer (even if she could have spoken at that juncture), "What, daddy here doesn't know that his darling daughter is getting her jollies? I don't know if he should be proud of you for pining away for only that one guy this whole time, or if he should be disappointed in your tastes..." Trailing away purposely, the captor smirked from behind the bad latex wolf mask as he gave that time to sink in.

Even bound and gagged as they were, the only other sounds the soft breathing of the proud mother bear, Robin could still see the tidal wave of emotion flickering behind her fathers eyes, ranging from doubt to hurt to hopefulness to everything in between, _Robbie_, he pleaded silently as their eyes met,_ tell me that it isn't true, that you don't have a boyfriend you've been keeping from me, from your mother? _Part of her wanted to scream back that that was hardly the issue here when the three of them were at some psycho's mercy, but at the same time, as crazy as it was, there was a part of her that wanted to confess, to use this moment as her excuse for breaking and doing what she could to salvage what she could of her father's love. Instead, the teen shook her head furiously, as if the ferocity would be enough to make the speculations go away before they could grow into accusations,_ No, daddy, I don't have anyone in my life, just you and mom and the girls, and right now those are exactly the people we have to protect, no matter what it costs us_. It sounded noble on paper, but in truth she wasn't honestly sure how much she could hold out against, although that also depended on the type of torture these bastards wanted to use - beating, the teen could probably take as much as her father, and if it was rape... well, it wouldn't have been the first time she had been used against her will, but if it was the whole psychological warfare these scumbags employed (and judging from this first guy, they weren't above using it), Robin feared she would break sooner than later, so she prayed to everything she could possibly think of that it didn't come down to that. Whoever this was seemed to know quite a lot about her though, and since the jab about her relationship with Chris couldn't have been a coincidence, the person behind this all must have either been quite close to her, or else a very good spy, and sadly those didn't seem to be in short supply in this world, so it was most likely the later. But why? Why would anyone want to harm her and her family like this, unless they were just more of Umbrella's leftovers and had an ax to grind, but this seemed to be more aimed at the bird, and if that was the case, then she could think of only a handful who might come after her in this fashion... One of those mercenaries that had picked her up, or else... But no, it couldn't have been, could it? Robin thought that Kelby had been dead all this time, but in fairness there was a lot about that time in Raccoon City the teen had willingly blocked out. _Daddy_, it was the child's turn to beg, _please don't let them hurt me again! Please._

Leaning in closer to Barry, Trenchy shrugged over at Robin, "What do you think the odds are of me getting lucky before he's ready to take what's owed him? Like if I had a coin, would she blow me it was heads and take it up the ass if it came up tails? I'm sure enough to put down good money that she'll put on a brave face at first, fighting more for your sake than her own so she doesn't look like a complete little slut, but eventually she'll come around to what I have to offer her, and who knows, maybe by that time wifey here will wake up and even want to join the party." Lazily he reached out a hand for Kathy's head and shook it around before jerking it back and forth, miming what it would look like if she had to give brain, "Wouldn't that get you nice and bothered you old bear, watching them kiss my cock before they take it in turn." The look of pure loathing in Barry Burton's face was beyond hatred at that point. "Who knows, they might even enjoy each other a bit before letting me finish on your daughter's juicy ass. Our intel tells us that she's no stranger to muff diving, so it wouldn't be much a stretch of the imagination, and everyone knows that she's not your blood, so you could even get that whole 'milf fucks handsome intruder while dad gets a naked lap dance' without the whole nasty incest business to worry about later." Trenchy walked back over to Robin and forced her head up by the root of her ebony hair, examining her closely, "This one looks like she'd bite your dick off if she didn't like the look of you, but if you were one of the lucky ones, it looks like she'd give great head. Too bad that lover boy isn't here to tell us all how good he's trained you up at giving a half-descent blow-job." He casually looked his victim over once more, "Nope, not really my type - I'm a titty man myself - but that ass is something special right there. You could make a good little nest up in it, if you had the mind to. Tell me the truth old man, you ever think about hitting that ass? Or are you already? Most would agree that no teenager her age would have such a good relationship with her old man unless they were going at it behind closed doors. We know that you have a thing for older guys, so its not so far fetched that you would dream of daddy taking out that belt, is it?" Crouching by her side, Trenchy whispered in her ear so that only she could hear, "Or is it that your pussy aches for only one? How will he take this, I wonder? We figure he'll be pissed about the whole rape part, but supposing that he watches the whole thing through to the end, what will have to say when you beg us for it?"

_Bastards_! Robin jerked around in her cuffs snarling and rabid, all the anger temporarily countering the frailty of her current condition; smiling brightly from the looks of his dark orbs in the wide, ill-fitting eye holes, Trenchy did the unexpected and yanked the gag down so she could scream and shout to her heart's content, confirming all that they knew to be true, or at least enough of it, "You sorry mother fuckers," out of everything today, her mouth would be the least of it, so even if she wasn't beyond the point of seeing red and controlling her tongue, the teen wouldn't have bothered editing her language, "when we get out of this, you will all be sorry! I will personally see to it that one way or another, your eyeballs are stuffed up your narrow little ass so you can see what its like when we have to look at the shit-stain that is your existence! I will never beg you for anything, let alone those little pink earthworms you call dicks! You can could came at me as honest suitors with pure intentions or like rats in a back alley, it doesn't matter because there is only one person out there for me! And you should pray that you don't survive this night, because once I get a hold of him, your days are numbered! Do you hear me, you fucking little bitch?! Numbered are your days! If my dad and I don't get you, you can bet that Chris Redfield will, and you will be sorry when he finds you! Do you hear me?! Chris is going to annihilate you for messing with the Burton family-"

Fixing her with a 'dear, we're counting on it' sort of look, Trench coat cocked his head at her outburst as he cut her off mid-rant, "The Burton family, or you?"

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><p>Author's Notes: Wow, thirty chapters in <em>and<em> over 500 views?! That is so incredible guys! Thank you so much, each and every one of you who even looked into this story! And as ever, thank you so very much to **hooray4natasha**, for all the reviews and just being so awesome in general! And yes, I am reading too much _Song of Ice and Fire_ in my free time. It's really good in my own opinion! Damn you Leon, now I can't for get that little nickname! But yeah, it's some pretty hardcore biz going on right about now, and just who is it who's pulling the strings? Because seriously they might consider getting a lackey that's not so quick to just spill the beans.

Music: "For Your Entertainment" by Adam Lambert. You know I never would have thought I'd use the song in this context, but as jacked-up as it is, you do have to admit that the lyrics work really well for the most part.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	32. Slo-Mo-Tion

Ever since they had first been acquainted three, four years ago, Barry Burton could tell that there was just something different about wee Robin Varis, and it had little to do with her upbringing and whatever holy hell the child had just narrowly escaped from; it was inside her, a quiet kind of maturity (although there was also a feisty fighter seeped in immaturity as well), and it was that same difference that made her so easy to love and accept. True, it hadn't always been smooth sailing on the path to being a family, what with all that time Moira and Polly had to learn to accommodate for another center of attention, he and Kathy staying up even later on nights as they amended their parenting style to adapt early to a surly teenager, but they all made that transition, because they loved each other, blood be damned. However time proved that their ward wasn't nearly as curmudgeonly as they might have expected, and the bond they all shared was stronger than anything force in earth - Kathy in particular would chalk it up to the open channels of communication they all kept - yet even so, the old grizzly had noticed a subtle shifting in the way he and the bird spoke to one another. Perhaps it had been there all along, growing steadily as they inched ever closer to the day that she would be an adult and would strike off to pursue her own life, but the arms specialist had noticed the gap one summer night when they had been entertaining a host; Billy and Rebecca had departed for home by that point and even Carlos and Jill were but a mere whisper on the wind, so all that left was Claire and Chris. Of course it somehow always did seem to come back to the younger pilot whenever his daughter was concerned, but until that night, it had seemed little more than a fleeting paranoia...

"Shush," Barry could hear his maturing moppet whispering like silk on skin all those months ago, even as he watched her glare death at the man in the trench coat that now loomed imposingly over her, lording his knowledge of some secret she was keeping, "Claire's story should hold out at least a little bit longer, so you don't have to go away just now." In truth the dad's first thought was of some steamy tryst they were enjoying the end of, one cradled in the arms of the other as they simply basked in the afterglow of something as sweet as it was forbidden (they were both at an age were sex seemed the most important thing after all), but even as his hand reached for the doorknob of the library to break it up (and maybe some bones as well), he recalled that they had been arranging a special surprise for both himself and the Mrs, so he knew that he must have been jumping to conclusions. He recalled standing there like an idiot for what felt eons, trying to justify whatever he thought he had heard being whispered back in reply, because even if it wasn't the surprise they were disusing, the two were good friends after all, platonic and far enough spaced in years that surely the thought would never cross either's mind to branch out and test the limbs they built their friendship upon. They were just friends, and the word platonic was the best part of it all, so surely it must have just been his imagination playing tricks on him! They were just friends, even to this day._ Weren't they?_

As the athlete's dearest companion the vote of confidence in the soldier's abilities and vengeance only made sense, however the man in the trench coat's last words left a bitter taste in the father's mouth that had little to do with the dirty tie they had stuffed in his mouth after knocking him out cold with the butt-end of a rifle (it happened too quickly to make out the make, although as Robin would have pointed out that was hardly the issue at hand). The words repeated in his head, echoing in the same way a knife would dig under the ribs and hurt when twisted repeatedly, t_he Burton family, or you_, the question remained of which it was, even to a Burton born. _The Burton family, or you?_ Barry could understand how one would think that there would be a relationship there between the two - hell, he could even understand how one might truly form when they were so well suited to the other - but he'd like to think that if that was really the case, the both of them would have more respect for him than to lie about it. _The Burton family, or you?_ No, whatever these bastards said or tried to imply, it couldn't have been true, because they would have told him, or if not them then one of the others, if anyone of them knew, so it couldn't be true, it just couldn't be true! _But why couldn't it?_ A voice in the back of his mind chimed in, _Robin was a beautiful girl, talented, strong, and above all loyal and full of love to give, so why could it have been so impossible for Chris to see that? _The soldier was cut from the same cloth as the girl (and likely their materials had been traced side-by-side with at least one touching layer), and besides he was the father's closest male friend since before he ever heard the Finnish surname of Varis, so it stood to reason that they would come to feel something for the other at some point. _Yes, something,_ Barry thought glumly as he watched destitute from the ancient divan as Trenchy caressed the side of his little girl's face, so much falling into place prior to that realization that the toughened bear might have shed on a tear on the spot if the circumstances had been more in his favor, only the one question in his own heart, _but did it have to be love?_

Before the man in the trench coat could do anything more than stroke the side of the teen's face with a gloved index finger, another male figure strode into the room as if this was his house, a frown evident in his tone alone, "Cousin, I thought I told you that she was mine? All I cared about was making sure that the little girls were out of the way - I told you both a million times that I don't play that game - the big proud papa bear was heavily sedated so that he could only watch helplessly and couldn't interfere, and most importantly of all, the bitch was mine." Glaring from beneath his own mask (a bad rubber replica of a snarling zombie), the taller of the two swatted his cousin upside the head, "You never think with your brain, it's always your God-damned cock, that's always been your biggest problem! Since you want a piece so bad and none of us could really figure out what to do with her, why don't you just entertain yourself with the wife? Katie, or Carly, or whatever her name is, I never paid much attention to the old cow. Too much like Tiffy's mom for my blood, and we all know how that one turned out." Listening to him speak, there might have almost been something familiar about that voice, but Barry couldn't quite pin it as he always paid more attention to the significance his daughter put in boys individually - relatively uninterested, they all just seemed to be nothing more than mere bosom companions, so he had backed up to a degree, always putting more stock into potential plotting than anything else. Perhaps it was neither here nor there, but out of her friends, he liked that Ant one the best, and then that Zedd kid wasn't too bad in his book. "So do you want her or not? If so, help yourself, but first could you do me a favor and set up the camera? You're way better at all this technical crap than I am, and I want this recorded so that her boyfriend can know what it feels like, so that he won't side with her when she tries to call it rape. Bitch wants me, she just doesn't realize it yet. None of them ever do at first. Yeah," the one that appeared to be the leader nodded in approval of whatever idea he had just been blessed with, "that chump of her's will know alright. She wants to flaunt him off, fine, but I don't know how long he'll want to keep her when she breaks and starts begging me for my cock." Ugh, how vulgar was todays youth?!

Camera procured from the cheap used gym bag that had been so carelessly tossed against the arm of the couch closest to the victims and set up on a rickety two-cent tripod, Trenchy moved over to Kathy as if she were the last meal on earth, looking her over with hands and eyes before receiving a heated phone call that took him out of the room for a long while. The other one, who was in baggy jeans the color of the road outside and a plain white t-shirt, stood over Robin and stared down at her thirstily, mind undoubtedly racing over the countless ways to do this. The first time was definitely going to be in front of her parents, if only to further prove that he was the one in control here, which lead him to figure that for the movie he should get a couple shots of them, so he picked the camera up and turned it towards the couch, "We're here in the lovely home of a mostly American family that thought they could get away from their nightmares by packing up and moving to sweet little Canada! This here is Barry and Kelly Burton-" Robin, who was still free from the gag, threw out an angry correction, along with many a choice swear words as he touched the shoulder of each person he introduced, "excuse me, our starlet here informs me that this is Barry and KATHY Burton, parents to darling pumpkins Moira and Polly before taking in some little orphan girl from a broken home in a city that had been cleaned off the maps... Mayhaps you are familiar with Raccoon City?" He glanced over his shoulder at the teen then, flashing the camera back around to her weak husk, "I had an uncle who worked in Raccoon City just before it met with it's fate. He, like so many others, worked for Umbrella. You wouldn't know his name, nor would any of those who were high enough on the ladder to call the shots. He was just some nameless face in a crowd, and then he became one of the walking dead. Maybe you met him, and he tried to take a bite from your pretty little ass. I wouldn't doubt it, as the men in my family tend to gravitate towards the booty. But I'm getting ahead of myself, that won't come up in our production until later!" Production?! What the hell did that mean!? "For now, why don't we get to know our star a little bit better? A survivor, and from what the good maids at our own little quaint _Chubby Cubby_ tell us - my uncle's wife had to take a job as a lowly motel maid when her husband couldn't make it back home, just to support her baby boy - you're quite the little screamer." He threw his voice in a bad imitation of the girl still resting against the wall, "Oh, God, oh, yes, fuck me harder!" He resumed his normal speaking voice, "I like that in a girl, but you never did scream for me like that when we shook the sheets. No, you were a million miles away at that point, but I won't let you do that to me this time."

Dropping a foot into her ribs at a harsh slant before an argument could arise - there'd be plenty of time for that later - Jeans exerted a great amount off pressure on her stomach with the ball of his foot, squishing whatever was left in her stomach back up dangerously close to the surface, although he seemed more concerned with what would come from the other end of her. "I wonder if I pressed down hard enough how much semen would spill out from between your thighs? Or have you changed the game and make your precious little darling dear squirt his load someplace else? Some guys might say you have too much muscle definition for a girl, but I don't know anyone who could possibly resist that ass - even Anthony Li would take a turn with it, and he's as gay as a rainbow on the first day of spring." Making sure that the camera was secure once more, Jeans addressed her father once more, "It's probably not easy hearing all of this, learning what a nasty little slut your little harlot is, so that's why I've decided to make it easier on you old man - my cousin tells me its cruel, but I actually think it's a lot kinder to move her away from your sight so you won''t have to see her break out into the tramp she really is. Unfortunately, or fortunately if you wanted to vote on what was kinder, our first little show is going to be right here, right now. I'm going to cut off that shirt of hers so that we can see those little tits in all their meager glory, and I'm going to rip off her pants, and then I'm going to find her little pink pocket, and then... Well, I think we all know how sex works, and how to make a woman yield. And then I'm going to cum, right inside. Hopefully she's on birth control or already knocked-up, because I'm not letting go until I'm completely satisfied."

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><p>Author's Notes: <em>Chubby Cubby<em> sounds really bad, doesn't it? I don't know, it was the first thing that came to mind, and in some odd way, I think it really does work, but then again, that just might be me. Did he never watch Van Helsing? Doesn't Jeans know that if you're going to kill someone (or in his case rape), you should just do it and don't stand there talking about it? Geez man! And no, I'm still undecided about if the feed is live or not...

Thank you much, as ever, for the awesome reviews **hooray4natasha**, and also thank you for not spoiling what happened in the last chapter in the review! You've been great it this whole time, but since that was such a game changer, I really had to thank you!

Music: "Slo-Mo-Tion" by Marilyn Manson. Urgh, another big music debate! Out of the three Marilyn Manson songs I heavily considered, _Killing Strangers_ had the best title for the job, _The Mephistopheles Of Los Angeles_ has the best overall tone of **every** song considered, and _Slo-Mo-Tion_ the best everything else (plus the video for the song kept coming to mind, and that's not usually something I factor in). For title purposes as well, I briefly thought about All That Remains' _This Probably Won't End Well_. I also thought about Disturbed's _The Animal_, but I think I want to use that one a tinsy bit later, and _The Way You Like It_ by Adema was the first/default choice for the chapter before it was actually written. Fuck it, I'm going with _Slo-Mo-tion_, since it resonates the best for me.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	33. The Way You Like It

Forcing herself not to mewl out from the agony radiating from the foot nudging ever deeper into the hollow that had housed her intestines and other important organs - Robin refused to give these sickos any sort of pleasure if she could help it - the bird swallowed the screaming pain as her insides were crushed up into a grotesque mush that strongly resembled her father's new coat. Tearing her apart in ways she could never imagine, this sickness took so much more from her than it ever gave, but in light of the present situation the jock wasn't about to let that stop her from formulating a way to get her family out of this, starting with Jeans - tormented every which way the athlete didn't care if she hurled all over this monster, so there was no attempt to fight back the acid flow swelling up inside her throat, the girl merely waiting for just the right catalyst to let it loose. Gross or not, she was prepared to do what it took to take out the trash, just like she'd been taught to do. Although there was something about this particular mass of condensed rotting garbage that struck a familiar cord with the teen, and it had little to do with all the little hints and jibes, not even because of the way he made himself sound so intimate with certain aspects of her life (although that too was quite telling). No, it had something to do with the mention of the family, the maid that worked at one of the motels she had stayed at with Chris... Urgh, if it weren't for the sweet sweet pain shooting throughout her body like a rocket that had been doused in especially flammable gasoline, maybe the athlete could have puzzled it out..._ God above and below, did it ever end?!_

Goading the goat on in his slimiest timbre yet, the gaoler gawked over at Barry as if he had thought of something amusing at that moment that would strike both of their funny bones, "You know what, this isn't the best angle for you to look at your precious daughter in her most vulnerable and true form, so I think that since I'm the stand-up guy that I am, I should remedy that." Grinning behind the rubber and grabbing Robin by the root of her hair, flexing his fingers so that it twisted up his wrist as much as hair can on it's own, Jeans ignored her whimpering and picked her head up as if she were the prize in the toy crane and no lighter than a stuffed animal, tossing her against the coffee table with such might it was nigh impossible to discern which took the most damage at a glance. Grunting and grimacing from the new suffering racking up her spine, Robin blinked blankly at the ceiling, and unable to gag back the barf in her mouth from the bones that might has well have been broken, the girl discovered the hard way that Jeans was stronger than any human had the right to be, which also better explained why Trenchy was so compliant to his wishes. "That's new in case you were wondering - a gift from my uncle that came to the family on the condition of his death. There was a note that came with it, warning of what could happen and all that boring cliché boringness, so I won't bore you with the details. But at least now you know what's waiting for you should you try to fight me. I'm not saying that we thought of every contingency, but I think we have you and your games covered, so I wouldn't even bother trying if I were you."

Huffing and puffing when the caged songbird wasn't heaving over herself, she realized without being told that she was between a rock and a hard place, however that did little to diminish her fight, especially as she had no way of being sure if this would get out to anyone or not (anyone being one very specific soul, "So you think you know me, mother fucker? Fine, if that's true then you also know that I won't just take this sitting down." Expecting it even before her silver orbs saw his arm rise, Robin did what she could to brace herself for the impact of his inhuman palm as it slammed with full force against her cheek; far from enough, her teeth clattered in her jaw as one near the back came loose in her mouth. Spitting it back in his face along with blood and leftover chunks of vomit, the jock laughed loudly as he scrambled back from the fire and nearly knocked the tripod over in his haste, well aware that it would only make matters that much harder for herself down the line, "Is that it? You hit like a bitch!" This inadequate excuse for a man could hurt her as badly as he liked (he probably planned on killing her after all this was done anyways), it didn't matter much if his goal was fear - thanks to that blonde bastard hiding behind his badge and his clipboard, the bird learned from personal experience that real terror came from a place that had next to nothing to do with violence. "I guess I should thank Kelby for being a terrible woman for selling her only daughter out to some creep. When you get to hell, you should send on my regards to the woman that gave birth to me, and the man she gave me to just to further her own station..." Or maybe once this was over, she could thank them herself...

"Bitch, I ain't your God-damned messenger!" Glowering, Jeans grew sulky, "But leave it to you - you, the great athlete, you, who got everything you ever wanted sooner or later - of course you'd say that, looking down on me even now as I have you at my mercy! Is it just easy to cast me aside, to take my friendship and compliance for granted? Whatever, I've had enough of you, enough of this game!" In answer to the look she fixed upon him with those misty eyes of hers that could somehow have every possible shade of gray an all of one single glance, he pulled off the false zombie face, revealing what laid before with such an astounding lack of emotion that for a moment she was speechless. Speechless and mortally wounded, from the look of her. "Too long have I suffered that taunting little figure, too long have I endured the hells of just being a friend and a drunken mistake. That night was supposed to change your mind about everything so you would submit to me, but no, you had to pity him as well and turn it into yet another moment of friendship." Void of all light but malice, eyes like two hardened slabs of burned earth flickered around the room, the depths darker than the pigment that normally brought out the roundness of his eyes, "I've had enough. I've loved you from afar for years, and at every turn you've spurned me! No fucking more! I'm taking what's owed me."

Iridescent and yet somehow achromatic at the same time, all Robin could do at the reveal was sit there like a cow chewing cud, but as his words and actions sunk in, her face changed so subtly that the transition was obvious, even to her father who could only see her face so well from the angling, tone colder than ice as she named her Judas, "Arron, I'm somehow not very surprised." And somehow she really wasn't, "So Bex, how long have you been planning this little scene? Ever since you saw the new kid on the block, or was it after I refused to speak about what happened the night of prom? No, you've probably been cooking this up a long time, but you only decided to go through with it after I humiliated you at the mall." _When I ran into you with Chris._ The words hadn't been spoken aloud, but both 'friends' could feel it hanging between them, heavy and overdue, the final wound that killed the body. "I really thought that you were better than all of this, and yet here you are, resorting to something that will turn you into a monster-" Bex laughed, a derisive snorted that very clearly said he felt as if she had already made him into such, which in a certain light might have been partially true. "You fucking bastard, I should have let him kick your ass that day in the mall, because for as tough as you want to make yourself look, at the end of the end your just a really insecure little girl that was picked on all her life and attacks those weaker than her for revenge. You're pathetic, and when you mutate into the monster you really are, I'm going to kill you myself."

_P-pa-pathetic?!_ In his blind demonic wroth, Bex was so fried by the nerve the jock touched that he backhanded her again, only this time at the end of it yanked her pants down her legs so they pooled around her knees like a second rope, the male not even bothering with the zipper or buttons that broke and snapped beneath the crumple of smoky fabric as it slid down her skin. Somehow the material had been dark enough and the adrenaline pounding hard enough to hide it, but as he stared down at the teen in her dark panties (which a closer look told him had actually stared out as a soft pink color), there was no hiding the revulsion of seeing all the blood that clung so wet and sticky to her pale thighs like metal to a magnet, opaque clods smearing heaviest near the delta. Flecks nearest the bottom seemed almost dry now, which told him that the car accident had probably been what caused all this, but there were fresher rivulets still spiraling down her legs, which clearly spelled out that he had finished the job. If anything, she should be thanking him right now for helping to make sure she was empty so that a week from now she didn't pee out a malformed heart or some shit. That was how the whole thing worked, right? Meh, what did he care? The virus his uncle had passed along was from an imperfect batch that should have been correctly disposed of in the first place, so the teen knew that he was living on barrowed time right now anyways, so her threats meant nothing to him. And anyways, this most likely meant that now she couldn't get pregnant, so he was free to use her to his hearts content without worrying about what came out of it. With absolutely no regard at all for human decency or concern for the hysterical weeping that had just now broke out from between her upper lips as she realized what he was staring at (and likely what Rebecca wanted to tell her), the boy that so claimed to love the bird didn't think twice or hesitate for a second as he unzipped himself and forced himself into her, using the unborn blood for lubrication.

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><p>Author's Notes: Poor, poor Robin! I honestly think that that was the single most depraved, disgusting thing I've ever written in my life, and personally I don't care much to linger on it). That was not how I imagined the miscarriage would happen, but medically speaking, I'm not sure that the fetus could have endured all of this, so I'm playing this on a more realistic field... To which I have to allow myself a minute to laugh at the thought of realism in Resident Evil. And then I remember what I just got done writing .-.<p>

Thanks once more **hooray4natasha**!

Music: "The Way You Like It" by Adema. The good thing about having such a huge battle over what song to use is that it helped to predetermine the next few songs, leaving me free to focus on more important issues, like what will happen in the story. Or what exact shade the wallpaper is, because that's always important too. As for the song itself, it struck me as perfect for the culprit of these most heinous crimes.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


	34. Sound The Bugle

Somewhere in the distance outside of the fog was the unmistakable dinging chirp of a phone ringing incessantly, but trapped here in this internally fueled mist, alone and unable to protect her own even when they were inside her very body - what kind of a woman didn't know that she was going to be a mother until she lost the baby?! - the teen didn't care enough to hope that it was the calvary, not even to feel insulted that the intruders were so sure of themselves that they didn't even bother to cut the power. Ordinarily that would have irked her above the follies of belief, well beyond the point of making another stupid remark that cost more than a measly tooth, but now that she knew what she had lost, how could the teen find it inside herself to care about anything, let alone what they did or did't do? And they had done more than enough that didn't bear looking into, as the three Burtons could attest (or was it now two Burtons and a Varis?). Awash in a sea of woe and heartbreak as the corpses and remaining luggage came floating back in repetitive circuits, all Robin could do as Bex vented was to ask how, how could this have happened?! A wee bairn, equal parts Chris; aching in every pore - nay, every last cell - the girl wondered what could have been, if the child would have been handsome and strong as his father, or as fierce as she was, if he would have been healthy or cursed with her lacking genes, if the three of them could have been happy together, a real family with the full works. Whatever feeling she had that kept insisting it would have been a son, it also pointed out to the jock that that particular brand of joy was a luxury circumstance wouldn't favor. The nursling that she made with Chris out of a moment of love... _Chris..._ Even thinking his name sent out a fresh tidal wave to try to sink her ever deeper into the abyss. What would she tell him if she could hold out long enough to look upon his face once more? What could she tell him? Bex swore that he wouldn't allow the bird to drift away in her misery this time, but he was a stupid fool who didn't know anything, because that was exactly what she had done to cope with her pain; the kicker of it was that it was his fault she had been put into that place on both occasions; offering many a bottle the first, this time her so-called friend had cut so deeply that the bird felt as if she'd never fully recover from the wound. Was this what being stabbed with a Morgul blade felt like? If not, the teen wagered that it was a similar experience.

Hypothetically granted enough gambling chips to live modestly on for a considerable amount of time in the event of a jackpot, there was little want to bet even a one on a decent outcome of this situation - the highest of prices had been paid for a prize that hid behind a veil of uncertain question, and the only known left behind was that each hand ended the same. Nothing was left of what might have been, and now the teen felt as if any close allies she might have had were too much of a reminder of what had been stolen. In other words, she was lost and so very alone. If he could have felt anything at this point (which science was still in a moderately heated debate about that issue), would that have been what he felt before his candle had been snuffed out? Forfeit, in dire need of succorance, and astray in a stupor that was only half of her own making as she mourned and hid from what was happening to her mortal coil, Robin only dared to look at her father once, and that was only after Kathy had regained consciousness and had somehow loosened her own gag enough to beg to be traded for her daughter. It was obvious by the panic in her voice that the older woman thought at first that all of the blood had been from Bex brutality ravaging the bird's body, not the bird's own misfortune, yet she undoubtedly caught on; afraid of what her mother might betray with a single glance, Robin couldn't even bare trying to caught her eye, so the exact moment and action remained a mystery to the athlete. There was no way of knowing who it would hurt the most to lose out of her adoptive family (in truth the mind broke even while the heart perched upon the apex of indecision and wished to remain willfully ignorant), so to prevent further heartache, the songless pet refused to make eye contact lest they both chose to abandon her, just as her real parents had. Somehow the broken doll had endured that anguish the first time, but a second journey down that desolate road might just kill her, and now mentally in the place she was, body and spirit alike breaking in the wake of all this fresh loss (at least in the city there had been time to register the gravity of it all), nothing was certain anymore, not even the anchors that had saved her life the last time...

If there had been any fire behind that fight - even once upon a time in another world a lifetime ago - it had withered and died from the coldness in her father's eyes; in all her wildest dreams, the pale pulverized pigeon had never expected that outcome, but now that it happened, the athlete realized that she would have much preferred him screaming and shouting. Whenever they had discussed it as a couple - both sides taking it in turn to want to come clean - one of the primary counterarguments had been Barry's reaction to the news, but in every mental image the teen could conjure up in her mind's eye it had always been anger and rage to meet the news, all shouts and action, and even once she had actually dreamed that it had ended with a bullet in the chamber. The rage and hurt had never been silent, and the way that things were going, they just might need that bullet after all; as final as death was, really anything would have been better than the way he stared at her, eyes more like slits of a frozen hell as he judged her unworthy, the stare broken only by him becoming to disgusted to look at her anymore. Setting aside the matter of her siblings for just a brief moment, Robin knew that her original mother had never loved her, and now she had lost her father's love once more, and just at a time when she would need him the most... In just a single fell swoop the little bird had been robbed of the child she had no clue she was carrying, was raped by one she had counted as a friend to an audience, and whether or not it was because of what happed or her own inability to face the music, she had most certainly lost her better half. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Bleeding out from the inside as well, the downed avian brought herself even lower by thinking of that despicable creature that had spawned her sorry ilk, pondering dully if Kelby was right about her after all, if she truly wasn't fit to be loved... As much as she wanted it to be otherwise, all the evidence pointed to the signs that she could still be loved after this, not by her parents (no doubt Kathy would also turn her back on the foul fowl once she learned the truth), not by Chris after he found out what happened, not those she thought had been her friends, and not even her own child... Maybe she really would be better off dead after all.

Breaking every promise she had made to herself as she laid there on that table waiting for it all to end (Bex's words to take her from the room at some point seemingly forgotten), the teen all but gave up on life and allowed the tears to stream down her cheeks like mocking ribbons of silver, trying and failing to recall all of the good times that had brought the bird to this point. Robin told them all that she would be strong through this and pay him back at the first available opportunity, but that had been before she had seen the scarlet stain that would have been her son... Sobbing harder than ever as Bex's cousin Murphy joined in the assault, the teen shuddered as one of them ran a hand over the exposed pink bud on her breast (for all his strength, Arron couldn't have been bothered to actually keep his oath, so instead of tearing her shirt all to shreds, he had simply just shoved the material up all the way to her armpits, for which the jock might have been grateful in any other setting). Fearing not what they would do next but what would come even later than that, the girl could almost feel herself slipping away from this cold body, at least until a loud scream had rent the air in two, the sounds of shouting following soon after; unless Robin was very much mistaken, there was also a chorus of tiny feet flying at every possible surface. The girls. _The girls! _Whatever her father thought of her now and her mother would come to think later - the toy bird supposed that even Moira and Polly could grow to hate her at their parent's suggestion, but so long as they were safe it didn't matter - Robin knew that she had to protect her little sisters, especially as she had failed to protect everyone else in her life that she had ever loved! She couldn't lose everything in a day, she just couldn't! Bound as she was with her legs thrown up over Bex's shoulders so that they had a better vantage point to share, Robin somehow found strength enough in her legs to swing them around in an arch and use them to ram them both back with her knees. That was easy - the next part would be a gamble.

"Stop it!" After pulling that little stunt it was almost a guaranteed certainty that Bex and his little bitch might make them all very sorry, but as risky as it was, the discarded plaything knew that she had to do something; although if Arron and Murphy complied, the Burtons might feel honor-bound to come after her, which would have undone the underlying secondary reason behind her actions, "Just stop for a minute, and I'll do whatever it is that you want, just get them out of here first. My sisters shouldn't see this - even you know that they're innocent and ought to be well away from here right now." Once there had been a good guy in Bex, and she hoped that at least some small part of him still existed deep down, although the good it would do them when the sight of their surrogate sister alone in this condition should have been enough to scar them for the rest of their lives by all rights, "It's not enough just telling them to cover their eyes, I know that, but it's still my job to protect them. It will be until I draw my last breath. Clearly I'm in no position to make demands," frankly the teen was baffled that they had let her even say this much without reacquainting her with the thick rubber soles of their boots, "but please, take them out of here, and I promise that I'll give you whatever you want. I won't fight, so please, let my sisters go. They aren't worth anything to you." Avoiding direct eye contact for obvious reasons, Robin did look over her shoulder at where were parents were forced to bear witness to this atrocity, "Whatever gripe you had with their father should be finished by now," it twisted what remained in the pit of her stomach to speak so objectively about her parents, but she knew in her heart that it would be easier that way, for everybody, "and Bex, you yourself said that you had no plan for the mother, so take me. Take me out of their hair, out of their lives, out of the country if you feel you must. Just stop making them suffer!" All things considered, the bird might have been proud of herself for keeping it together long enough to beg, "Your fight is with me, so please just leave them out of it, I'm begging you! If you ever loved me at all like you claimed to, or if our friendship every meant anything to you for even a second, please, do me this one last kindness."

On the verge of seriously considering a scenario in which they just packed up and left with the girl in tow, her head finally in the game as she kept the soldier at attention with only her mouth as his kin sped away into the sunset, the night ending in a crash of metal and bone, Murphy could tell as well as the jock that his cousin was thinking about it, and they could all practically hear the cogs turning in his mind as he weighed the other teen's words, "A tempting offer, I admit, but... What's to say that you'll keep your word? What's to keep them from coming after us if we slink off into the shadows like ninjas with their tails between their legs? Even if they themselves didn't come after us, I know how many friends you have, and what kind of work they do." Well before learning that he had close family that worked with Umbrella, Robin would have said that Bex had little clue what Chris and Jill did for a living, as she downplayed it and kept it rather vague (as if she wanted to answer probing questions that would have bought fifteen minutes of fame!). "We, and by that I humbly mean myself, have done our homework. Your papa bear here is ex-Air Force, where he met your little lover boy before they both joined S.T.A.R.S., along with Jill Valentine, who has quite the resume, and your little doctor friend, Rebecca Chambers. I couldn't find out much about some of the others," which mostly likely meant Billy, "but I did stumble across a document that puts one Carlos Oliveira as a mercenary working for the U.B.C.S. during the Raccoon City dirge. I don't know if there's something special about you or you're just lucky, but death seems to follow you quite closely. You wouldn't be courting yet another lover, now would you, my dear?" Bex smirked at that as if he found something immensely amusing about those words, "Perhaps your plate is full enough that you've had a taste of this humble pie... I know that they haven't tasted nearly enough, though, I can see it in this one's eyes." They all knew to whom he was referring. "No, I think we'll stay right where we are, thanks. As for the brats," he whistled at a third man in tight leather with an ebony sweater pulled over, "they don't have a place here, so you can just keep them upstairs." At least Bex and Murphy (whom Robin had met once or twice before it turned out, his identity transparent after Arron's unmasking) had enough decency to wait for the girls to vanish from sight before they grabbed their victim to continue what they were in the middle of doing.

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><p>Author's Notes: Yes, that was a<em> Lord of the Rings<em> reference. If you recall from an early (albeit discontinued and unconnected) story about Robin, she was a fan (as was Leon). In case anyone forgot or skipped over that chapter, Bex's name is Arron Baxter whatever. Ok, so I can't remember if I gave him a last name or not, but in fairness I'm really freaking tired right about now, so meh.

**hooray4natasha**, you seriously are awesome! Thank you so much for the consistent and great reviews!

Music: "Sound The Bugle" by Bryan Adams. Not the first song I picked out for this moment (are they ever at this point?), but after what happened in the last chapter, I feel as if it fits better. In truth there were a few others I thought of, but for me the lyrics were perfect, as well as the melody.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil and its characters are the intellectual property of Capcom; all I own is the plot, Robin, and all other OCs within the story. Also any music or branding mentioned or used belongs to their rightful owners.


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